EDIH
by Demons of the arch angel
Summary: [Sequel to MIAB] After the battle with the Forsaken Fallen two years ago, peace should've followed. Instead, Erebus and Eden's Rapture have appeared with a plot to destroy the universes and dimensions while Fifteenth Elder's schemes are revealed. Our heroes have to defeat these beasts to help the worlds once more. - Anime
1. Prologue: The Lost Memory

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. You guys are great.**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin**

 **Anime: Guess who is back to ruin your lives with the sequel of MIAB? I am! Welcome to Enter the Darkness In Hearts or EDIH! This also marks my return to the Beyblade fandom in 2017.**

 **Rin: Being in more than two fanfics about this subject wasn't in my contract.**

 **Anime: Hush, little one. Now, guys, warning that this bad guy won't be lovable. You'll probably want to murder him. I know I don't like him. Now, enjoy the prologue of EDIH!**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Prologue: The Lost Memory**

 _Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, Earth (20 years ago)_

In the beautiful and calm city of Uji, in the outskirts of one of its local parks, three young men that appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years of age were resting on the roots of an old cherry blossom tree. The three were from the same school, judging by the uniform they were wearing.

The tallest of the three was a young man with slate-colored hair and crimson-red eyes. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching the pink petals of the cherry blossoms fall down to the ground.

The second tallest was a young man with light gray hair that almost seemed white and light gray eyes that were hiding behind his black-rimmed glasses. He was busy sketching on a journal to notice the cherry blossoms that fell and sometimes landed on his paper.

The shortest of the trio was a young man with black hair and red eyes that were a shade darker than the other boy he was with. He wasn't only just the shortest, he was also the smallest in size. He had removed his blazer and was using it as a pillow. He hummed the tune to a song before he sat up, "I'm bored."

"What do you want us to do about it, Haru?" The gray haired male asked, looking up from his sketch to raise an eyebrow at the male now known as Haru.

Haru shrugged, "I don't know. Anything. We're wasting our youth here!" He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, "It might not look like it now but life is quickly going by. We can't sit idly by. We need to act!"

"You're insane, Haru. Sit down and stop moving before Eren hits you." The slate-haired teenager laughed, smirking at the raven-haired male when he pouted. He rolled his eyes, "You're exaggerating, Haru. We're not 'wasting our youth', as you've so aptly put it."

"That's what you think, Susumu, because you don't have a good youth and have a good plan of the future." Haru said with a pout.

Eren snorted at Haru's reply while Susumu glared at him, ignoring the grin Haru sent his way, "I don't have a good youth? We've been best friends since elementary. I've lived through what you have."

"You're already tied down to Kana Takano, though." Haru said, sitting down in front of Eren and looking at the sketch, ignoring the blush Eren now sported. Susumu, though, didn't miss it.

"Come on, is the great Susumu Hiwatari intimidated by timid Kana Takano?" He laughed, swatting Haru's finger away from his sketch, "Don't touch; I'm not done."

"Let me see, Eren." Haru said in a whining tone, pouting at the gray-haired teenager, "I like seeing your sketches. They're great! So please let me see them!" He clung to Eren's arm, ignoring how flustered the action caused his friend. Eren fixed his glasses to avoid Haru's gaze before relenting, much to the upbeat male's happiness.

"I'm not scared of Kana," Susumu muttered, "I did ask her out to the festival and she agreed to go with me. Then, at the festival, I asked her out. I think I did better than Haru. He freaked out and ran as soon as he saw Natasha getting near." The snide remark made Haru hiss at Susumu while Eren looked away, looking downcast.

"Natasha is nothing like Kana!" Haru replied, groaning, thinking about the fifteen year old red-head. He scratched his head, staring up at the sky, "For one, she's Russian."

"What does that have anything to do with it?" Susumu, a fellow Russian, asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It makes her . . . exotic?"

"Now you're making her sound like an animal or something," Eren said, stifling his laugh. Haru shoved him, making Eren give out a cry of indignation.

"You guys know what I mean! She's nothing like your stereotypical Japanese woman. She's tough and has a fiery attitude. She can probably kick my ass." Haru said, looking at Eren's sketch as if that was the most important thing in the world.

"Anyone can do that." Susumu replied, ignoring the glare Haru sent in his direction. It hurt the smallest one of the group to be reminded how wimpy he was.

"Whatever. The point being that getting Natasha to be with me is harder than what you did, Susumu." Haru said with a sigh before leaning on Eren, closing his eyes. Eren rolled his eyes at the teen and tried to shove him off but to no avail.

Susumu closed his eyes, trying to listen to the soothing sounds of nature around him, before he suddenly asked, "Where do you guys see yourselves in twenty years?" This got the attention of Eren and Haru, who opened one eye to glance at Susumu.

"Running Mizushima Enterprises with Natasha as my wife, duh." Haru replied with a yawn, "I've been groomed as its heir all my life. As soon as I get married with Nat, my father said he'll give me the company. Although, if they do disown me for marrying a 'Russian wench', I'll go with plan B."

"What's plan B?" Eren asked.

Haru smirked, staring into the distance before pointing somewhere, "I'll make Natasha and me a nice cabin in the woods in Japan or Russia where we'll live until we're old, raising our children, one of them named Rin."

"Rin?" Susumu raised an eyebrow at the name choice. The name wasn't bad but he wouldn't have pegged Haru as the type of person to name his child 'Rin'. He shrugged, "A girl Rin or a boy Rin?"

"Well, I would love having a boy Rin," Haru smiled, his eyes looking gentle, "But, in the end, I wouldn't care if I got a boy or a girl. As long as my child is alive, I'll be happy."

"You sure do love kids, Haru." Eren noted, "So, would you adopt or have more kids with Natasha?"

"Hmm," Haru put a hand under his chin before answering, "I think I'd have another child with Nat before adopting. Having two kids is perfect, don't you think? And we'd totally adopt five kids."

"You want seven kids?" Susumu asked, raising an eyebrow, "You know what they say about ghost number seven, Haru."

"I don't believe in those superstitions." The raven-haired teenager stated before nudging Eren, "That's where I see myself in twenty years from now. What about you, Leonardo da Vinci?"

Eren shrugged, "I'm not going to be as detailed as you. I'll probably move back home to France for a while before moving to live in Canada. I'll settle down there and become a painter. Maybe I'll get married and have at least five kids or maybe I'll stay single. I've never actually thought about it."

"You should." Susumu told the gray-haired male, "And I'd bet you'd be a world-class painter. You'd get in the history text books and your paintings will be hanging next to the Mona Lisa or something."

"You flatter me too much, Susumu." Eren waved of the Russian, blushing despite himself because of his praise, "I think I'll work as either your secretary at Hiwatari Enterprises or as Haru's secretary."

"I'd make you part of the board of directors in my company." Haru announced, hugging Eren from behind and laughing. Eren turned redder at the contact, mumbling his appreciation of Haru's offer.

Susumu frowned, "Stop bribing my future secretary."

"Suck it, Hiwatari."

"What about you, Susumu?" Eren interrupted the two childhood friends before the argument escalated, "Where do you see yourself in twenty years?"

Susumu cleared his throat before announcing, "I see myself as the CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises while working under the BBA. Kana will be my wife and we'll have only two children: a son named Kai and a daughter named Raisa."

"What about plan B?" Haru questioned.

Susumu shrugged, "I don't have a plan B. Unlike your parents, my mother and father will approve of Kana as my wife. Hell, they support us being a couple now. So, no plan B for me."

"You're lucky Voltaire approves of Kana." Haru pouted.

Eren smiled, "Well, I think your plan is more feasible than the rest of ours, Susumu. So I know your plan will work out." He nudged Haru, as if waiting for him to agree, which he did after Eren wouldn't stop trying to nudge him in the stomach.

"If we do go our separate ways after high school," Haru stood up, looking up at the branches of the sakura tree, "let's meet up here in twenty years. We'll see if everything went according to plan."

"You're on, Mizushima." Susumu smirked, both he and Eren getting up to join Haru. They all stared up, witnessing the petals from the cherry blossoms fall to the ground.

"That's a promise, then." Eren laughed.

The trio stayed watching the petals fall, as if they held the future that they so carefully desired. They wouldn't know if their plans would come true until twenty years later. Today, though, they decided that they needed to continue living in the present.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, Earth (Present day)_

Susumu Hiwatari, now a thirty-six year old man, stood in front of the old cherry blossom tree where he, Haru and Eren used to hang out after school or whenever they felt like being here. He was no longer the socially awkward sixteen year old (soon to be seventeen year old) from the day they had decided to meet again after twenty years if their lives led them down different roads.

It was two in the morning, too early for anyone to be out and about, making it the perfect time for Susumu to come here, after avoiding the old tree for so long. He sat down, leaning his back on the bark.

"So, how did your plans go?" He asked, his voice hollow and filled with pain. He was met with silence. He closed his eyes, laughing with no mirth as he remembered the fate of his two best friends that had made the promise to be here twenty years ago.

Eren Karbowski had a good future ahead of him in the artistic world. He had been offered a scholarship to a very prestigious art academy and his first painting had been sold to a wealthy man named Gozaburo Kaiba. Eren was already making his big splash on the art industry and Susumu had even seen him start dating another artist named Penelope. He sniffed, trying to keep back the tears as he remembered what had made Eren's future disappear.

Eren died at the age of eighteen in a car accident on November 2, a week after his birthday. He had been driving home from his art lessons when a truck driver hit his car head on. He had been rushed to the emergency room as fast as the paramedics could but he was pronounced dead by the time he reached the extensive care unit. That was a day that still haunted Susumu, having reached the hospital as soon as Haru had contacted him about the accident.

Haru. Susumu cringed at the name, feeling the familiar pang when he remembered his childhood best friend.

Haru Mizushima, after Eren's death, moved on to work in an archeologic dig with Natasha Borkov that was led by Bruce Granger and his wife Yoshie but was being sponsored by Roberto Fernandez. Something in that dig eventually caused Haru to propose to Natasha and the two got married after Natasha's eighteenth birthday and moved to Russia, to the main Mizushima estate.

The two suffered a lot after their parents got in a freak accident when Natasha was five months pregnant. This caused the fragile mind of the powerful red head to spiral into a depression that worried Haru almost to death. Their baby came out prematurely on Natasha's seventh month of pregnancy and both she and their son – Rin, Haru had named their child – nearly died. After months of Natasha suffering from postpartum depression and Haru working himself to death to keep her and Rin alive, she began to recover.

They had their ups and downs, mainly due to Rin's fragile health, but they had achieved a good life, Haru now running Mizushima Enterprises. Both of them should have lived to grow old and happy, watching Rin grow up to become a great person like they had wanted.

Then, came the dreaded night of February 16.

Susumu never knew what really happened that day but he had been called by his father, Voltaire, who told him that the Mizushima estate was on fire. He, Voltaire and Kana had gone to the hospital where only two people – a maid named Akasuki and a butler named Alexander – from the fire had survived.

Susumu let the tears fall down as he remembered that he had to identify Haru's remains. He had seen the wounds on his best friend's corpse, both on his back and on his neck. He had hated the world so much, then. Haru had died too early. He had only been twenty-five. He knew that Kana had felt the same thing when she had identified Natasha's corpse. Natasha had only been twenty-four, after all. Both he and Kana hated the funeral day, crying while they both held their son Kai, who was too innocent to understand why Natasha and Haru had been put in boxes and buried.

Six-year old Rin had not been found among the burned remains of the house and Susumu decided to take that as a blessing rather than a curse. It stopped looking like that after months of searching for his godchild and people believed that the delicate child had been burned to the point where he had become ashes.

Then, miraculously, on July 17, Rin was found. By then, though, the happy child Haru and Natasha had raised so lovingly was gone. He only saw Rin twice before he moved to back to Japan, Voltaire going with him. In those two times, in the hospital and in the graves of Natasha and Haru, Rin was as serious as a man that had lived through hell.

As for his life . . .

Susumu looked down, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. He had achieved his plan of the future, marrying Kana a couple of months before Haru and Natasha had tied the knot. On August 2, their lives changed when Kana gave birth to their firstborn, Kai. His bright and adorable son had grown up wonderfully, being a good 'big brother' to his best friend Rin. He always wondered what had broken their friendship, the two never seeing each other after Kai visited Rin when he was in the hospital. Still, he and Kana made sure their child was as happy as possible. He taught his son how to blade and Kai had fallen in love with the sport. His life had been working out well, despite the deaths of two of his best friends.

Of course, that was almost eight years ago.

When Kai was ten years old, Voltaire made him choose between the company – BioVolt, he thought with disgust – or his love for beyblading. He chose his love for beyblading and he lost Kana and Kai. His father didn't allow him to see either of them and he had to learn through a television set that his beautiful wife had died, leaving Kai alone with Voltaire and that horrible man he employed named Boris, much to his horror.

He lost sight of Kai after a couple of years thanks to Voltaire and he decided to try to bring BioVolt down to help Kai. He was thwarted and thrown into a cell where his only link to the outside world was a television set. That's where he had been for some time, watching his son in Beyblade tournaments and wishing that he had chosen his family instead of beyblading or the company.

He had to watch Kai grow up without him, becoming a powerful blader and a wonderful young man. To him, there was no justice in the world. What man had to see his son through a television?

One day, about a year ago, a hooded young man had released him from his cell and he was now a free man. A free man with no courage, he thought bitterly, as he had yet to contact Kai after so long. He probably hated him. He had tried to contact Rin but had immediately hung up as soon as he heard the raven-haired teen cuss at him in rapid Russian (well, Rin probably mistook his number as someone else). He didn't want to imagine Kai's reaction.

"I'm such a coward." He said with a sigh, standing up and giving the old tree a once over. At least it hadn't changed.

"Don't sell yourself out, Susumu."

The slate-haired Russian turned around so quickly that he got whiplash. His eyes grew larger than possible as he saw the young man that stood in front of him, "Eren?!"

Eren chuckled, not looking a day over eighteen, the age he had been when he had died. His gray hair was now completely white and his green eyes were charcoal-black, glasses no longer in his face.

"It can't be. . ." Susumu pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming because that was probably the only thing that could explain why his dead friend was standing right before him.

"Oh, it can." Eren replied, smirking wickedly, "Sorry that I didn't see you sooner but you haven't aged much. You still look twenty-something. Haru would be so jealous. As for why I'm alive . . . well, I couldn't stand being around so many mortals that my 'sponsor' decided to get me out of here. Faking my death is so easy when you're basically immortal."

"Eren-."

"Since you were one of the only humans I ever cared for, Susumu, I'll allow you to use my true name." Eren – no, this couldn't be Eren – bowed, almost mockingly, "My name is Erebus, holy beast of total darkness."

"You're a holy beast?!" That wasn't right. Holy beasts took animal shapes, like how Dranzer appeared as a phoenix. But they couldn't assume human appearance, could they? Susumu looked around and he gasped when he saw he was surrounded by several people he didn't recognize.

"Yes, my dear Susumu." Eren – Erebus – replied with a smile, "We're all holy beasts joined together to form Eden's Rapture. We've hidden from sight for so long, trying to mingle with the humans. It's time for us to rise from the shadows."

"And what do you plan to do?" Susumu asked, sending calculated looks at the other members of Eden's Rapture. They were all smiling at him but their eyes glowed menacingly.

"Destroy the boundaries of the universe to ensure chaos, find the descendants of the cursed family that ensnared my Chaos and of that human mortal that ruined everything, kill the human race, enslave the Elders and rule the universes and dimensions." Erebus listed off emotionlessly while Susumu stared at him in horror. Erebus snapped his fingers, "Also, find a way to revive the fallen. We would both want our dear Haru back among us, right?"

"You're insane." Susumu needed to get out of here but he was one defenseless human against all these psychotic holy beasts.

Erebus sighed, "You did hold onto meaningless morals when you were younger, too. Oh well," His eyes glowed and the shadows around Susumu shifted and wrapped themselves around him. He gave out a yell of surprise as he was lifted into the air.

"Sorry, Susumu, but I don't want to kill you." Erebus stated, "I don't want to cradle the corpse of another human friend like I did with Haru. So, you'll come with us to the dimension our sponsor has kindly given us. It'll also help because we'll need to kill Kai to achieve our plans and I know you won't want that."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on Kai!" Susumu yelled, thrashing against the bonds that had him floating, "I swear, if you hurt him or Rin, I will do everything in my power to end you!"

Erebus motioned at another holy beast, "Please make Susumu relax, Hypnos, before he wakes up the whole neighborhood." Hypnos nodded and raised a hand in the air where Susumu floated and muttered a few words.

The slate-haired man gasped, feeling his body go numb while his vision darkened. He reached for the sky, trying to keep awake. He croaked out incomprehensible sounds before muttering a weak 'Kai' and falling unconscious.

"Glad that's over." Erebus smiled before he clapped his hands together, "Now, time for our plans to begin! I'm afraid that we've made them wait for too long." He chuckled, looking up at the sky, "I'll be seeing you soon, Chaos."

In a faraway dimension where no one but a certain few could enter, three people felt a major disturbance coming from Earth. And those three people were the Seventeenth Elder and the two holy beasts known as Night and Chaos.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: Hopefully, this story has started off on a good foot and I apologize to Susumu Hiwatari for the suffering he will have to put up with. Well, I apologize to everyone because of that same reason. Oops.**

 **Night: Do not be afraid of leaving a comment. We would like to ask what you thought and if you dislike Erebus already.**

 **Chaos: What was that last part?**

 **Night: Nothing.**

 **Anime: See ya in chapter 1! It's good to be back!**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: ECHO**

 **Song: ECHO by Gumi**


	2. Chapter 1: ECHO

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. And tai takamaru for favoriting and following**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin**

 **Anime: I have returned, my lovelies! The official chapter of EDIH, this shows what our heroes are doing. Tyson, Kaori, Aya, Riku, Hikaru, Shun and Nami are back! Hurray!**

 **Rin: Enjoy, everyone.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **1: ECHO**

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth (Four days later)_

Tyson was bored out of his mind in class, listening to the droning voice of his teacher. He glanced around, noticing other students – Hilary, for example – were writing notes like the good students they were. Other students like himself were bored out of their minds.

"Sensei, how does this apply to real life?" A voice asked suddenly. This caught Tyson's attention because he recognized the voice. It was none other than the blue-haired, red-eyed, loud-mouthed Hikaru Kuwashima. He was sitting three rows in front of him, next to a boy identical to him except Shun – his twin – had been paying attention like the good student he was.

"Kuwashima," The teacher said in disdain, looking at the seventeen year old boy in front of him, "you know that mathematics is one of the principles of life-."

"Basic math. They have calculators now, you know," Hikaru answered, looking out the window, "Why do we need to know anything about limits or derivatives or anything like that? Why are we getting our heads filled with all this useless junk?"

"Kuwashima, step out of the classroom now." The teacher said, obviously not happy with the twin boy. Hikaru grinned and did as he was told, waving goodbye at Shun who hid both his eyes with his long bangs.

Tyson didn't blame Hikaru for his outburst. He didn't understand why he needed to know this. Still, Hiro, his father and his grandfather wanted him to graduate from high school. The bright side to that was that he was already in third year so he was almost done with everything. That made him let out a sigh of relief.

"Orikasa," The teacher turned to the girl who had been looking out the window for a long time. The girl jumped, standing up before the teacher smiled, "would you mind solving this problem?"

"Sure, sensei," The girl answered before going up to the board. She used the proper equations and steps to answer the question, flawlessly showing her skills. Tyson, Shun, Hilary, Kenny and two others weren't impressed. Aya was intelligent, even if she hardly showed it.

Tyson was cut off from his observing upon seeing a note on his desk. He opened it then turned to the girl that sat next to him, "Kaori, what's with the secrecy? The witch won't hear us from the back."

"Just read the note." She whispered back, gesturing at the paper. She looked back at her notes, writing furiously. Tyson shrugged and did as she had told him. He read the note with some difficulty - he was rusty in Russian – but was able to after a minute or so:

 _I'm having trouble with someone in the BBA training halls. Can you help me and meet her? You'll be good for her. – K._

This worried Tyson slightly because Kaori didn't ask for help when she was mentoring in her new job in the BBA. Besides being rather stubborn, more so than he was, Kaori was a Beyblade prodigy in her own right, with her ability to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a blade during the heat of battle and also determining its type, what direction it was spinning in and the components that made it up. Kenny had labelled it the KK-Bey prodigy to not get them mixed up with the other two types.

The other types of prodigies – the TK-Bey prodigy and the B-Bey prodigy – were rarer to see, especially the B-Bey prodigy. Tyson wondered if the student Kaori was having trouble with was one of those prodigies and started thinking about it in depth, something that would've surprised anyone that knew him.

TK-Bey prodigies were prodigies of the game that seemed as if they were born to play the game. They possessed great power and were able to form strategies while battling. Prodigies like these included himself, Kai, Ray, Max and mostly everyone they knew. Still, it was hard to find TK-Bey prodigies these days.

The B-Bey prodigies were rarer to find than the other three types and were the naturals. The only prodigy they knew so far that fit under this list was Brooklyn. These prodigies didn't practice to get this good in the game; they were born with the ability. Those were harder to work with, as Hiro had inputted, as a natural-born talent would seem useless to hone to the prodigy. Not only that, they also tended to be . . . unstable.

Could this girl be a B-Bey prodigy? If so, then-.

"Granger!" Tyson jolted out of his seat when he saw that the wicked teacher was standing right in front of him and he'd been staring off into space while muttering to himself. Aya stifled a laugh while Hilary, Shun and Kaori looked disappointed.

"Uh, yes?" He asked, trying to find help among his friends.

"I asked if there is something more pressing than my class."

Well, a lot of things, he wanted to say but he knew that wouldn't be a good response to give to the witch. As he opened his mouth, there was a crash and they both turned to see Riku Mizushima on the ground, his wheelchair having crashed to the desk behind him.

"My pencil fell." Riku said, as if that would help the situation. He reached out and grabbed the simple green mechanical pencil and looked sadly at the wheelchair.

"Oh dear, you have to take care of yourself, Mizushima!" The witch said as she rushed to Riku's aid. Tyson was about to do the same when Riku smiled at him and winked. Tyson smiled at him, glad that at least Riku was on his side and was willing to play the "invalid" card to help him.

Still, it was a bit unnerving how easy it was for Riku to deceive others. He was spending too much time with Rin, Tyson decided as he remembered the half-Russian that was known to wear different masks to deceive those he wanted to deceive. The fact that Riku was doing that scared Tyson. Then again, if it had been anyone else, the witch wouldn't have cared. However, she adored Riku and also had a soft spot for Riku's legal guardian – Rin – so it was no wonder that Riku was able to effectively work this plan out.

After checking that Riku was fine and barking the order that if his pencil fell, the others should pick it up, the witch continued her lesson and forgot all about Tyson. He was in Riku's debt and all he had to do was buy new music sheets for Riku so he could continue his work.

Riku and Takao – wards of tycoon Rin Mizushima – had taken the world by storm when they appeared seven months ago in the artistic world as RIMI and TAKI, respectively.

Riku, or RIMI, was an accomplished pianist, violinist, flutist, composer and wrote songs for famous performers when the request was given to him. Since he could write in so many languages, it was easy to be a worldwide songwriter and often took weeks off to compose songs. He even had a position in the new BBA as part of the advertising campaign.

Takao, or TAKI, was a rising star as a painter and sculptor. Since before he was captured by the Forsaken Fallen, he'd had a gift and his time with them only influenced him to become greater in his craft. He painted the Forsaken Fallen in sceneries that felt realistic and was probably best known for his painting Devil's Tears, which captured the moment where Night had died in Chaos's arms. The painting captured the essence of the beasts to the point that some people cried while admiring the art.

With those two, the name of the Mizushima only got more popular. While the two created beautiful pieces of art and music, Ann – the third new Mizushima – went for the philanthropist route. She assisted charities and non-profit organization despite her blindness and raised money in auctions – where Takao sold some of his paintings, Riku performed and Rin had been forced to sell himself off, along with Tyson, Kai, Max and Ray – for good causes. She was sweet, despite everything that had happened to her.

As for the only living member of the prominent family, Rin was practically everywhere. He was working in the BBA as part of the Board of Directors, was slated to be a judge in the tournament (something Kai opposed since he said Rin knew nothing of the game. Kai had to sit through a five-hour lecture about Beyblade by Rin, who proved to be very knowledgeable in that regard), was CEO of his own company so he attended to those matters as well, had to visit all the orphanages he was the patron (such a saint, Hikaru had muttered once) of while also doing some project with Katsu Kurumada on the side (espionage, Nami insisted).

All in all, Rin had to be dragged to the hospital by Alexander and Akasuki for his monthly checkups. The last time they had forgotten, Rin had passed out in the dojo because he had pulled two all-nighters and Night had to lecture the boy on his health while Kai had threatened Rin's beloved fish Remus by dangling their pet cat Aiko close to the fish tank.

Tyson sighed, idly writing the notes the witch was droning on and on about while he noticed that Aya was half-asleep by the lecture before returning to his thoughts about a certain someone. He hadn't seen his boyfriend in person for almost three months and he had to say that it was a bit depressive. He knew the business Kai – along with Tala, Mariah, Miguel and Garland – was attending to was important but that didn't mean he couldn't miss him.

Kai and the others had been sent by Mr. Dickenson to the Australian branch of the BBA to check up on how well it was going, mentoring some of the bladers and just looking at the way Beyblade was progressing over there while secretly registering the bit-beasts in that area. Kai had written him a letter – who writes letters anymore, Tyson had thought as he had glanced at the phone Kai could use to contact him – to say there were good bladers in the facility. They had about five KK-Bey prodigies and only two that were categorized as TK-Bey prodigies.

Tyson had wanted to ask him how long it'd take him to finally come home but he knew that was selfish so he never asked. Aya, Nami, the twins, Kaori, Hilary, Takao, Riku, Kenny and Ann were great company but he sometimes wished to have the old gang around in the dojo.

Max and Ray were in the American and Chinese branch, respectively, cataloging bit-beasts and training more bladers. Daichi was in his village looking over the Forsaken Fallen with his cousin Saori as Tyson had instructed them to do since it would be dangerous if Erebus found them while they had Black Dranzer locked up in a shrine in the village.

Hiro and a couple of other bladers were in South America, having the same responsibility as Kai, Max and Ray had in the branches they were in. While he was also doing that, he was also researching more on the holy beasts and had found a cave where hundreds of them were sealed. He had moved all of them to Judy's research facility where the woman was registering all of them. Tyson would've liked it if Hiro had told him that but his older brother had said it to Aya instead. It wasn't that unexpected, as the two were dating.

The final bell chimed and Aya woke up from her half-asleep daze. She began to gather her things, the others doing the same. Riku wheeled himself to Tyson's desk and the blunette grinned, "Thanks for your help, Riku."

Riku waved his hand in a dismissive tone, "It was nothing, Ty-dragon. Rin-rabbit told me to protect everyone from other people, whether the situation is deadly or not. It is annoying to be considered a hopeless invalid, though."

"Don't worry. I'll buy you lots of music sheets. I know you need it." Tyson promised him as he put on his backpack. He grabbed the handles of Riku's wheelchair and the two began to leave, Riku humming to some song Tyson recognized as the Corrupted Flower.

"Wait up, Ty, Ri!" Aya said, heading towards them with a grin. Hikaru waved at them and they waited as Shun came with his backpack and Hikaru's, looking at his older brother with a disapproving look. Hikaru only grinned at him before grabbing Kaori's hand and walking away with her, Shun muttering as he followed the love birds.

"Are you going to the BBA building?" Riku asked. As Tyson looked down at him, slightly wondering how he knew, Riku shrugged, "Intuition is a powerful thing. Are you going to talk to Rin-rabbit?"

"Eh, no. Kaori wants me to help one of the bladers she's training, you see." Tyson answered as he pushed Riku's chair. At the staircase, Hikaru quickly carried Riku bridal-style while Tyson dragged the wheelchair along. The school didn't have ramps to go downstairs so this is how they dealt with Riku's paralysis without the boy feeling bad about himself.

"Who is it, Kao-monkey?" Riku asked.

Kaori put a finger to her lips and grinned, "It's a secret until you meet her." Hikaru let out a sigh as they reached the end of the staircase and placed Riku gently on the wheelchair. Riku muttered his thanks before he began to wheel himself forward. A girl was waiting for them in that floor and she grinned when she saw them, waving.

"Nami-chan!" Shun grinned and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. Nami blushed, being a rather shy girl, before saying a soft hello to everyone.

"So, we're all going to the BBA building?" Aya asked as they headed to the staircase, Tyson carrying Riku down this time. She smiled and nodded, "A good excuse to see Kenny and Rin!"

"Hey, I am a trainer, Aya," Kaori reminded the blonde, "I don't drop in for no reason. Unlike other people, who are skipping their training." Aya looked away, whistling, and the brunette sighed because there was no way she'd get Aya to continue blading.

"I am following Ty-dragon around so I'll be with you in the training area." Riku inputted. He looked at the others, "Hikaru-dog and Shun-fish are trainers, Hilary and Nami are trainees so everyone but Aya-doll are accounted for."

Aya sighed, "Fine, fine, I'll train. You make me sound like a slacker."

"And you aren't?" Hilary whispered, prompting Nami and Kaori to snicker. Aya rolled her eyes as they finally reached the first floor, Riku being set down on his wheelchair again as they wheeled out of the building.

"I am not! I'll have you know, Rin told me to order the beasts in alphabetical order once and I finished a day later."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow, "Aya, how did that take you two days to do?" He had seen the archive of holy beasts they had found and it wasn't too big. He sighed, realizing that Aya must have procrastinated the work.

"Lots of names!" She answered with a grin.

"Riiight." They all said, not believing her. She huffed, walking faster than them to reach the BBA building before they could. The streets were bustling with high schoolers that had just gotten out of school. They walked in the sidewalk – occupying most of it – in comfortable silence.

Today was a pleasant day, with the wind blowing softly and the sky was clear of any clouds. The sun wasn't bearing down on them and they all appreciated the coolness of autumn as they were heading to their destination.

It didn't take them too long to reach the new BBA building. It was at least twenty stories high, the logo of the company reigning supreme over it all. The last three stories were for the board of directors of the BBA – such as Mr. Dickenson and Rin – while ten of the stories were of the agents in charge of marketing, developing and advertising for Beyblade. The first story was just the lobby and waiting room, a place where bladers could sign in and become members of the BBA.

The second and fifth stories were for training. Here, some professional bladers – such as Kaori, Hikaru, Shun and Brooklyn – taught the basics, strategies for the game, customization of a blade and a class Kaori called Bit-Beast 101. The final floors were meant for those people that were in charge of cataloging the beasts and monitoring them, which had proved to be helpful as they had stopped a battle that could've been catastrophic, as the blader was not used to the bit-beast's power.

They entered the lobby and Aya waved at the green-haired grey eyed boy attending the reception desk, "Hiiiii, Ritsu! Did you miss me?" Ritsu the receptionist gave out a weak smile before waving at them. Everyone knew that Aya hounded the poor male, constantly teasing him because he had a not-so hidden crush on Rin.

"I can't say I have." He muttered before turning Kaori, looking a bit distressed, "Hey, can you do something about Rikku? She's holed herself up on the third floor and won't let anyone go in. Two kids have fallen down the stairs trying and the elevators refuse to open in the second floor."

"Again?" She sighed before nodding, "I'll try but you know how she is." She walked towards the stairs, "Good luck with trying to win over Rin." Ritsu flushed bright red and Tyson felt sympathy for the older male. He put up with a lot of their teasing but at least Aya hadn't volunteered to help him yet. They all knew her matchmaking plans were pretty bad.

They all headed towards the stairs – except Riku who went to the elevator – and began their journey to the third floor where Kaori's mysterious trainee dwelled.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: That was a lot of information, huh? In my defense, two years have passed since the battle against the Forsaken Fallen. Besides, the list of people First Elder mentioned are going to come out soon. I'm a bit excited to write about them. This chapter is mostly to show where all the characters are at this time.**

 **Night: Reviews are appreciated.**

 **Chaos: Say, where is Erebus? What about the Elders? What happened to Susumu-.**

 **Anime: That's all, folks! See you in chapter 2.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Resonance**

 **Song: Resonance by T.M. Revolution**


	3. Chapter 2: Resonance

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. You guys are great.**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin**

 **Anime: Chapter 2 already guys and it will show us some of the plot. Yay! Sorry it was so late but I blame school.**

 **Rin: Sorry, in advance, to the Third Elder.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **2: Resonance**

In the land where stars and planets could be seen connecting to the branches of a silver tree, a young girl was sleeping in the roots of the tree. She was a small and thin girl with dark hair and black circles under her eyes. She was dressed in what appeared to be rags and she held a fan in her hands. She was breathing heavily and one of her bony hands was covering the side of her stomach.

Suddenly, the tree seemed to groan and a branch – that was connected with Universe 1, Dimension 177, Reality 10 – fell. The sound woke up the girl and she looked up, her green eyes turning light brown before shifting back to green. She bit her lower lip, "Things are getting worse. If this continues, Yggdrasil will die." She placed a hand over her heart before looking up, "First, this was a lousy time for you to disappear."

The girl shifted. She became a taller young woman with long, silky black hair, green eyes and a healthy-looking body. Her rags morphed into an off-the-shoulder midnight-blue dress with sleeves that made it up to her elbows. The fan that she had in her hand morphed into a golden staff with the emblem of Yggdrasil in it. The young woman, not recognizable by humans, was none other than the great Third Elder, one of the seventeen beings that had created the worlds.

She grimaced and the side of her dress turned darker. She cursed before looking at Yggdrasil, "You couldn't have tried dying after Erebus and Fifteen stopped their feverish rebellion?" The World Tree said nothing and that just made Third sigh. She was about to sit down when she heard someone land on one of the branches nearby.

"Fuck." She said before looking around and spotting one of her favorite universes, "I hope that they'll treat me well in the Granger dojo." With those words, she turned into a shower of golden sparks that headed in the direction of a very familiar dimension.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Tyson was the first to pause when they were close to reaching the third floor. He felt like he was suffocating and he paused to put a hand over his throat. He coughed, "What is this?"

"Rikku's power." Kaori replied then she also coughed, "It feels like Chaos's darkness, doesn't it?" She shook her head then leaned on the railing, looking exhausted, "I told you she needed help, Ty. Her beast is too powerful."

They continued going up and Kaori paused when she noticed a figure coughing at the top of the staircase, the trembling figure on his knees. She blinked, "Eden, is that you?" The male turned to her, a hand over his mouth. Piercing green eyes analyzed them before glancing at Kaori and answering.

"Kaori-sensei, I was going to try to stop Rikku!" He answered, his voice muffled by his hand. It was odd to see him address Kaori as "sensei", as he was older than her – probably twenty one years old. He had black hair with white streaks in his hair that looked like Aya's skunk spot. One of his hands was clutching a white Beyblade with a black attack ring and the bit-chip was glowing.

"Idiot, there's no way you and Anubis can stop her and Loki." Kaori said as they reached the top and helped Eden to his feet.

"Her bit-beast is named Loki?" Nami asked, suddenly before they looked into the hallway of the floor. Black tendrils moved along every room and they were about to wrap themselves around the group. Tyson grunted, calling forth the shard of Night's soul that dwelled inside his heart.

Light surrounded them and Eden took a deep breath, his pallor regaining color. He didn't let go of his blade but smiled in appreciation towards Tyson. They all did, panting loudly and the air being less stifling.

"Rikku? Rikku, are you okay?" Kaori asked. One of the doors opened and they could hear soft footsteps as a girl approached them. Finally, Rikku appeared before them and Tyson heard Aya take a sharp intake of breath.

Rikku was a scrawny girl that was around twelve years old with long green hair, her bangs long enough to cover her eyes so they couldn't see her eyes. She was dressed in a black dress and was barefoot. In her hands, she clutched a black-and-green blade that was oozing out darkness.

Seeing her, Tyson remembered all the haggard children of the warehouse where the Forsaken Fallen had kept the children they chose as their possible tamers. The children, who looked so tired and haunted by all the torture they had gone through in the hands of their captors.

"Loki needs to be alone. He doesn't like it when the kids call me names." Rikku said before biting her lower lip, "I know Ritsu told you to help me but there's not much to help, is there? Loki says it would've been better if you had Nemesis to help you but you chose Arion instead."

Kaori flinched, as if she had been punched. Nobody was supposed to know about their involvement with the Forsaken Fallen yet this girl knew. Rikku looked at them before she made a sound of surprise, "The child of the skies!"

Tyson flinched this time since no one but Chaos and the Elders called him that. Rikku smiled suddenly and walked towards him, clutching her blade tightly, "You're shining brightly as always! Loki and I have been waiting to meet you and Dragoon for a very long time."

"You have?" Tyson asked, blinking down at the girl. Up close, he could see her eyes were a violet color that danced with wisdom well beyond her years. Seeing her, he was reminded of the eyes of Night and the First Elder.

"Yes!" The girl smiled, showing him her blade, "Loki likes you a lot. He says you remind him a lot of Night, you see, and he liked Night. I don't know who Night is but Loki says he was a little like you." She placed a hand on Tyson's own and he jumped when he saw a gigantic serpent looking at him.

The snake must have been taller than the whole building and it looked majestic. It had black scales with green designs and alluring red eyes that made Tyson want to keep contact. It seemed to smile before the image shifted to a black haired male with green eyes dressed in black and green armor. The male mouthed something before the image disappeared, Rikku reappearing in front of him.

"You saw, right?" Rikku whispered before drawing back, "That means you're special." She turned to the others before turning to Tyson, "People don't like those that are better. People call me a witch, you know? I'm not but they think I am because I'm better than them. Sad, isn't it?"

"Rikku, do you like Loki?" Tyson interrupted the girl.

Rikku nodded, "And my big brother and Frey. I also like Night, Rin and Tyson because Loki likes them. Hey, Tyson, do you want to battle me?" She began to head into the training rooms, walking with a jump to her step. Somehow, Tyson preferred her smiling than looking miserable.

"Rikku Yamamoto, you're insane." Eden said in a joking manner before he followed her. Everyone else did the same except for Tyson, who was frozen in his spot. He grabbed Dragoon for reassurance, even though he didn't know what he wanted reassurance from.

Rikku Yamamoto was among those that First Elder had told him to look out for.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

"Are you awake, Rin-rabbit?" Riku asked, wheeling himself into the office of his legal brother. Rin was asleep in a pile of papers with his glasses firmly in place. Riku held in a laugh before he studied the state of the office. The office was a mess, to say the least and Riku had to remind Ritsu to come up to clean it up – as the boy was also Rin's secretary – although he pitied the guy for having to deal with this.

There were coffee mugs all across the desk along with a half-eaten rice ball. Random books were open in random places and the pictures of several of their new bladers were in Rin's desk. The computer in his desk was open and playing videos of beybattles of the past, something that didn't surprise Riku.

The floor was covered by papers that talked about the plans for new stadiums, plans for more powerful blades, and pictures of Takao's paintings that were arranged strangely. Riku saw some papers had some of his lyrics and there was a paper that read "Ragnarok" before it cut off in another language. There were more papers like that one, except they said "Irregular", "Yggdrasil", "Heart" and other odd things.

"Rin?" Riku asked, trying to wake up the older male. He sighed before rolling to Rin's desk. There were several photos framed there, some that made him smile because he wouldn't have pegged Rin to be sentimental.

There was a picture of his parent's wedding, framed in a silver photo frame. Natasha was holding a bouquet of white roses and was leaning towards Haru with a grin on her face while one of Haru's arms was wrapped around her waist.

The second picture was of Aya, Hikaru, Shun, Nami, Riku and Rin, all of them hugging Riku excitedly. It was a picture taken almost four years ago as they all looked younger. The photo had been taken inside Riku's room in the psychiatric hospital during his birthday, which explained why they were all wearing party hats – even Rin – and why he was smiling.

The third picture was of the G-Revolutions, who were all staring at the camera with wide grins – except Kai, he had a normal smile – and Riku recognized that one as the picture the media had taken when the BBA was restored two years ago.

The fourth picture was a simple picture of a twelve year old Rin – dressed in an immaculate tuxedo – standing next to Voltaire Hiwatari. Neither male was smiling, only staring at the one who had taken the picture with matching looks of indifference. Riku wondered why Rin had kept that one.

The fifth picture was of a group of people that Riku had never seen before. There were two girls and nine boys, all of them smiling at the camera. One of the girls was jumping in the air of excitement while the other was smiling widely. Three of the males wore identical masks of surprise at the fourth grinning male who had forced two of the males to kiss, both of them blushing at that. The last two were the only ones posing for the camera, the smaller of the two males leaning on the other. Riku frowned, squinting at the smallest and youngest boy of the group. Was that smiling and happy boy Rin?

"Riku, what did I tell you about snooping in my office?"

Riku almost jumped out of his wheelchair and faced Rin. The boy rubbed his head and coughed, fixing his glasses that had almost slipped off his nose, "Don't mind me. I just had an anemic episode and that's why I was passed out in the middle of the room."

"Here I thought you liked to sleep on the floor. Akasuki-hen finds you asleep there more often than in your bed." Riku muttered before grabbing the fifth photo, "So, why don't you smile like that anymore?"

Rin paused and took the photo from Riku's hands, suddenly defensive, "That's personal, Riku. You know better than that." Riku bit back a sigh. He knew he had promised Kai to help Rin open up more about his past and the feelings he kept bottled up but that was easier said than done when he kept pushing everyone away.

"What, did someone break your heart?" Riku asked jokingly then paused when he saw the wounded expression in Rin's face that rapidly disappeared. Riku coughed, eyes a little wide and looking anywhere but at Rin's face.

Rin cleared his throat, clearly dismissing the question Riku had asked, "What brings you here, Riku? Or are you here as RIMI?"

"I come here as myself. I come as the insane Riku Kuonji." Riku replied before gesturing at the office, "It seems to me that you're here as Rin, not as the Mizushima heir. What could you be doing here, Rin?"

Rin sat down on top of his desk and grabbed a paper before giving it to Riku, "I asked Max to give me the list of the members of Eden's Rapture about two days ago. Two weeks ago, I asked Tyson to give me the list of people First had mentioned to her. Yesterday, I had a vision about Third Elder being attacked."

Riku took all of that in before speaking, his voice grimmer than usual, "What does this have to do with this mess?"

"Research, of course." Rin replied, brushing his hair aside, "I've been trying to look if anyone in the branches have found tamers who are using the members of Eden's Rapture while also looking for the list of people Tyson was told to look out for."

"How's that going so far?"

Rin shrugged, eyes a little downcast, "Rikku Yamamoto, Eden Rivers and Saori Ogata are here in Japan. Nico Tsukino was found by Kai in Australia by chance and Aria Umezawa was found by Bryan in Italy. Riliane is nowhere thus far." He bit his inner lip before removing his glasses so Riku could see his brilliant eyes that were filled with confusion.

"What about the other two? Yudai and Tsubasa Mizushima, I mean."

Rin looked at him, "It would be impossible to find them."

Riku stiffened. Rin did not use the word impossible lightly. That was a fact and the fact that he used it now threw the light-haired boy off-guard. Riku grabbed the armrests of his wheelchair tightly before asking, "Why's that?"

"Because they've been dead for over seventy years."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

Tyson was glancing down at the small girl in front of him once more. She was chattering excitedly about her beast to him while Aya was gathering her hair into a ponytail, complementing the girl's soft long hair. Without her hair covering most of her face, Rikku looked like a cute girl rather than a child straight out of a horror movie.

Tyson then turned to glance at the other stranger in the room. Eden Rivers, his whole name according to Kaori, was launching his blade – Anarchy Anubis – on the stadium while he was deep in thought. The blade, since it had been launched in such a clumsy manner, soon came to a stop.

How was it that two of the people that First had told him to look out for were right here? After two years, why was it that they had finally surfaced? Tyson didn't understand why and it bugged him. It bugged Dragoon as well, as he could feel agitation coming from his partner.

"Tyson, Tyson, wanna see me blade?" Rikku suddenly asked before grinning up at Hilary, "Do you want to battle me, Hilary-nee-san?"

Hilary paused before she answered. Rikku was a B-Bey prodigy and had a very dark and powerful bit-beast by her side. She carried herself with confidence that reminded her a little of Tyson. Still, she decided that it would do for everyone to see how good she was.

"Sure." Hilary said and the two girls stood across each other in the beystadium. Eden stopped to see them battle, his green eyes calculating them in a way that reminded Tyson of Rin. The two girls got into a launching position, brows furrowed, with Rikku's hardened eyes showing her confidence.

"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!" Tyson announced as the referee.

Loki and Artemis crashed in the middle of the stadium. Rikku smiled as the two separated, Artemis wobbling slightly. How strong was Loki in order to cause that much damage to Artemis with only one clash?

The two blades circled around each other, hitting each other. Kaori analyzed Loki. It was a right-spinning attack type blade with a tip that would suit a balance type better. The defense ring was thin but that helped with its speed.

Loki will not be defeated. Kaori finally decided and looked up to see Eden's eyes. The boy had probably already deduced that much, she gathered before she looked back at the match.

"This is too easy." Rikku before her eyes turned green, "End it, Loki."

Loki began to rotate faster, speeding towards Artemis before they crashed together. Artemis was sent flying and, before it hit the ground, it burst. Hilary gasped as the pieces of her blade fell on the ground. She kneeled down, picking up the bit-chip and looking forlorn.

"Match over." Tyson said, impressed at how easily Rikku had won, "Rikku and Loki are the winners."

Rikku grinned and recalled her blade. She kneeled down and picked up what was Artemis's attack ring and defense ring, "Here you go. Sorry."

Hilary shook her head, "It's fine. It was a beybattle, after all."

"Why did you toy with her, Rikku?" Eden asked. When the others turned to him in surprise, he shrugged, "I've seen Rikku give it her all. The match is finished as soon as Loki hits the other blade first. That's why no one likes to battle Rikku."

"Seriously?" Hilary asked, feeling depressed.

Rikku looked down, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to have fun and I wanted you to have fun. No one wants to play with me because I beat them really quickly. I hope you understand."

Hilary nodded and patted the girl on the back, "You're an amazing blader, I have to give you that, Rikku! Having that much skill in your age is impressive. I am jealous, Rikku."

Rikku smiled, blushing brightly. Nami, Shun and Hikaru began praising her as well and Kaori grinned before grabbing Tyson's hand, "Thank you."

Tyson looked at the smaller girl, "What's there to thank? I didn't do anything."

"You did, though," She answered, "Rikku never willingly challenged someone to a beybattle and I hadn't seen her smile until the moment she saw you. And she let us put her hair back when she would usually blade with most of her hair covering her eyes. Just by being near her, you've helped, Tyson. I like that about you."

Tyson didn't know how to respond to that so Kaori left him alone, heading to where Rikku was talking to the others. He hadn't even thought that he was able to bring the light out of people, even though other people besides Kaori had already noticed this. He couldn't say it was because a part of Night lived inside him because people had noticed this about him before the gentle beast took refuge inside him. He wondered why it was that he helped people.

He came out of his thoughts to see Aya talking to Eden, the boy looking rather uncomfortable as Aya bombarded him with questions. He looked at Tyson as if asking for his help but Tyson ignored the look. He had to deal with Aya every day, after all, so he wouldn't willingly allow himself to be bombarded by her randomness now.

Suddenly, Eden's gaze turned to the doorway and his eyes filled with so many emotions that Tyson almost looked away. Sadness, regret, longing, desire, love and affection, an odd combination that Tyson hadn't seen cross a person's mind before. Thus, he turned to see who had evoked those emotions on the male.

Standing behind Riku's wheelchair – having brought him here, no doubt – was Rin.

 ** _~~~EDIH~~~_**

 **Anime: Ahh, the first appearance of Third in EDIH (one of my favorite Elders to write) and of the bastard Erebus.**

 **Night: What do you suppose will happen next, what with all these revelations in this chapter?**

 **Chaos: Tune in next time for EDIH. See you then!**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Proof of Life**

 **Song: Proof of Life by Kagamine Rin and Len**


	4. Chapter 3: Proof of Life

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin**

 **Anime: Chapter 3, it's been so long! I'm back!**

 **Rin: Not that long.**

 **Anime: We finally see what our villain is up to and Kai has his first appearance in EDIH! Also, we might find out something about a being named Ragnarok. Well, on to what you guys came here for.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **3: Proof of Life**

 _Twilight Castle, Fifteenth Dimension, 15th Universe_

Erebus sat on the throne made of human hands in the Fifteenth Dimension, a land that Fifteen had gifted to him centuries ago when Eden's Rapture had to hide away from the gazes of the Elders.

He was inside Twilight Castle, the only kingdom in this world. The throne room was in ruins, however, with tapestries Night had once made for him so long ago lying on the ground. Those tapestries had been made in the days when it was just them so Erebus cherished those ancient tapestries more than anything in this ancient throne room.

The floor had no red carpet, just bare black stones, and the room was barren of any materialistic item as Erebus found no need in creating anything lavish. It was nothing impressive, compared to the majesty of the former castle.

He frowned, remembering the day he had destroyed it the first time. It must have been when he had heard of Haru's death twenty years ago in that fire. He'd been so angry at the world, even Persephone and Hypnos had kept their distance from him. After that, he had allowed them to restore it.

The second time he had destroyed the castle, it had been when Night had died two years ago. He couldn't have believed it if anyone had told him the news but he had felt his heart slow down and his eyes had filled with tears as he had felt his other half die.

Perhaps he had resented Night because Chaos had loved him – _Chaos loved everyone but him_ – but he didn't hate him – _not the way he had hated Sasha_ – because he was his other self. Still, he found it fitting for Night to have died. After all, Night didn't belong in the physical world. He belonged in the land beyond the stars, becoming one with Yggdrasil's essence.

After Tyson had sealed Chaos two years ago, he had been angry but not enough to destroy the ruins of Twilight Castle. He had to be careful or else he'd end up destroying the bodies and souls of the ones he cared for.

A dark patch of darkness formed in the corner and a young woman came out of it. She was dressed in a light green sundress and wore a flower crown made up of black roses. She had long flowing dark purple hair and electric blue eyes and flowers seemed to be intertwined with her hair. She was beautiful yet her aura of darkness showed her true, twisted nature.

"Lord Erebus, Fifteen has successfully taken over the Council as planned. He has sent the Elders to the branches of Yggdrasil to join Susumu Hiwatari," She reported, bowing in front of him. She looked up, her gaze as cold as the room she dwelled in, "However, Third was able to evade capture and is currently in Earth, in the primary dimension. First is still missing and Seventeen is in her prison with Chaos and a fragment of Night."

Erebus stood from his throne, morphing his two-piece black suit into black robes. He gave her a soft smile that betrayed his cruel nature, "Thank you, Persephone," He turned to look at the balcony and his dark eyes reflected the world outside the castle, "Have you located what dimension and universe the Forsaken Fallen are imprisoned in?"

Persephone looked at him in shock, stumbling over her words as she spoke, "W-Why would you want to know that, my lord? You know that they'll never join us, especially because they hate us for what we've done. I know Hades hates me. Besies, even if you are able to recruit them, their loyalties will always lie with Chaos."

Erebus stared at the other beast with a cool, calculated look before answering, "I would like to know because I don't want Third to unleash them if the need for them comes. You know that the Elders wouldn't hesitate to use them once again."

Persephone paused and nodded, remembering that's how they were defeated in the first place. The Forsaken Fallen were the greatest enemies they had ever faced and she wouldn't like to try to fight them again. They had grown stronger over the ages, as it was shown when they battled the humans two years ago. She could still feel the wound Hades had inflicted her that would've killed her had Fifteen not saved her. She would never say it but Chaos and his army frightened her.

"Rise, Persephone." Erebus said as he walked towards the balcony. The female beast did so and the two went outside. He grinned as they stopped at the railing of the balcony, grabbing a small root and looking up to take in the view of the World Tree, "Don't you love this? We're in a world that has a wonderful view of Yggdrasil, even if it is his roots. It'd be more impressive if he wasn't dying, though."

"He must have already chosen a successor, Erebus." Persephone said as Erebus touched the roots with admiration and something that could be love, "I think that he might have chosen the husband of darkness as his successor."

Before she could even continue, she felt the darkness wrap around her throat. She gasped out for breath as the tendrils squeezed her neck and she clawed at them desperately.

"You know how I feel about you calling Yudai like that." Erebus hissed, his dark eyes showing his rage as he squeezed her neck, "His name is Yudai, Persephone, not the husband of darkness. He has a name. He is someone that needs to be remembered!"

"I apologize to you, Erebus," She choked out, "and I apologize to Yudai as well." As soon as she did, she could breathe again. She coughed, holding her neck, as she fell to her knees. She looked up at Erebus, who in turn was looking at Yggdrasil with a forlorn expression, no doubt reminiscing about Yudai.

She hadn't known Yudai. None of the other members of Eden's Rapture had. It had been during that time period where Fifteen had stripped them of their power and hid them in Earth to prevent First and the other Elders from learning about their survival. She had hated that time period, as she had been treated in an awful manner by the villagers that had taken her in. She had her revenge when her powers were restored years later, though, so she bore no grudge towards those humans.

Erebus, however, had lived a much simpler life. He had been taken in by the young lord Yudai and cared for by said boy. The two fell in love – _oh, she hated Yudai for that_ – and left the estate they had lived in to be in a secluded village where they could be happy. They were happy for two years until Yudai caught a disease Erebus couldn't cure and he died.

The story probably would have ended with Erebus committing suicide in his grief.

It didn't.

As it turned out, Yudai was part of a family that had been blessed by Chaos to give birth to his tamer. The Elders cursed the family – _after Daisuke's death at the curse of Chaos_ – so anyone of the family that closely resembled Chaos would die before they turned thirty. Unfortunately for Yudai, he had resembled Chaos too much and had died at the age of twenty-one.

Erebus's hatred for the Elders grew after that. He even stalked the male's family and collected the souls of those that died for resembling Chaos. It was a morbid hobby and one Persephone thought Erebus would stop trying to do. Luckily, he had missed the soul of one and that was Haru Mizushima twenty years ago.

In total, Erebus had twenty-seven souls but only two had their bodies and those were Yudai, Erebus's beloved husband, and Tsubasa Mizushima.

Persephone was jolted out of her thoughts as she heard footsteps run towards them. She and Erebus turned to see the golden haired, silver eyed beast burst into the room. She frowned, "Hypnos, what is it? Why are you-?"

"Lord Erebus, terrible news!" He said as he bowed in front of them.

Erebus frowned, "Hypnos, you're supposed to be watching over the souls of the Mizushima tamers. Why are you here?" Hypnos and Persephone both flinched at the coldness of his voice and she began to pity Hypnos for incurring the wrath of their cold leader.

"It's because of that that I am here, lord," He answered, looking up to face Erebus and Persephone, "The bodies and souls of Lord Yudai and Tsubasa Mizushima are gone."

"What?!" Erebus said, his eyes wide. He paused before growling, "Hypnos, dispatch the Moon Team and head to Earth with them. Persephone, go with the Sun Team to aid Fifteen in finding Third. I want Third in the branches of Yggdrasil and Yudai and Tsubasa in the roots of Yggdrasil. Go!"

"Yes, my lord." The two answered before they left the unstable beast by himself. It was time to get back to business, after all.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

"Rin!" Rikku was the first to announce before she ran to the male and hugged his arm, "When are you going to give Ritsu his break? He must be bored playing your lobbyist and secretary."

"He got on his break two minutes ago so I know he's going to check up on you, Rikku." Rin answered as the trio made their way towards the others. Tyson saw Eden inch away from Rin, looking down with downcast eyes.

"Hey, Rin. Glad you're out of your cave and joining us simple humans." Aya said, waving at her longtime friend. Rin smiled weakly at her – he was still learning to do that naturally – while Riku waved at them from his place in his wheelchair.

"I heard you guys were here with Rikku. I had to see if you weren't all hurt, especially Rikku." Rin said. Riku tapped the back of Rin's hand, a signal that he had so he could start wheeling himself, and Rin let go of the handles of the wheelchair.

"You were worried about me?" The young girl asked before she smiled, "You're so nice, Shu, no wonder big brother likes you. You would make a nice wife." At that, Eden just cringed as if he had been hurt. Rin glanced at him and looked away just as quickly, dismissing him.

Tyson wondered briefly what their relationship was but decided not to pry yet. He already had his suspicions, though. Especially because Eden kept glancing at Rin with longing in his eyes while Rin was looking at everyone but Eden.

He remembered when Voltaire had wanted Kai and Rin to be married. The old man had mentioned that he had never given up hope that Rin would marry Kai, even when he had been involved with someone named Eden. Sure, there were a lot of Edens in the world but Rin's reaction to Eden was what confirmed Tyson's suspicions over the relationship the two had.

"I don't think so, Rikku." Rin answered with a brief glance at Eden, "I don't know how to cook and I can't clean very well. I'm also pretty strict so I think I'd be pretty scary."

"Nah, you'd be fine." Rikku said before going to Tyson, "Do you think Shu would make a good wife."

"Never mind all that, Rikku," Riku said with a sigh before looking at Kaori, "Did bringing Tyson here help Rikku repress some of Loki's darkness?"

Kaori nodded, "Believe it or not." Tyson thought it was odd that Riku wasn't refering to them the way he usually did and noticed that his eyes were sharper and less dull than usual. How strange.

Something felt wrong.

 _"Tyson."_

That voice, that familiar voice, wasn't the voice of Dragoon or Night. It wasn't the voice of any human or beast that he knew of. That voice, that distant voice, was the voice of First Elder.

 _"Tyson, beware of the arrival of Ragnarok,"_ She whispered, her voice seemingly fearful, _"Destroy the vessel of destruction. Find Irregular and Yggdrasil's successor before the death of the World Tree. Combine the broken halves of the same soul before they're destroyed. Keep Erebus away from his heart and seek aid from the witch of darkness. Find the child of universe and save all those who are lost. Save the worlds. Save me."_

 _"First Elder, where are you? Why do you need help? Are you okay?"_

 _"Save me . . ."_

"-yson!"

Tyson blinked and found Kaori standing in front of him with a frown in her face. He scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I zoned out. What's going on?"

"Honestly, Tyson, you've been distracted a lot these days." Hilary sighed from the background. Tyson caught Rin's eye and those sharp eyes told him that Rin knew that Tyson had not been idly daydreaming as the girls had thought.

"Well, what were we talking about?" Tyson asked.

"We were talking about how much Rikku has improved in just these couple of minutes in your presence, Tyson." Aya snickered before elbowing the youngest person in the room, "Is it because you like Tyson, Rikku?"

Rikku blushed before shaking her head rapidly, enough to probably give her whiplash. Aya raised an eyebrow, "Well, then, problem child, why is it that you've improved?"

"It's because-." Rikku paused and her whole body went rigid. Her eyes were wide open and glazed over with green from what could be Loki's influence. Her hairband ripped and her long green hair covered her eyes. She was quiet for a very long time before she began to scream.

The world seemed to explode.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Australia, Earth_

Kai was beginning to wonder why in the world First Elder had said that Nico Tsukino was someone that they had to find when the boy didn't even know how to blade and had zero abilities from what he could see using Dranzer's eyes.

Nico Tsukino was ordinary. He had short dark purple hair, sky blue eyes and an olive complexion and wore grey pants and a black shirt, the only clothes that he owned at the moment so there was nothing extraordinary about this boy.

"You're not even holding the launcher right." Kai informed the young man and sighed when Nico tried to fix his grip on the launcher and failed before said launcher fell to the ground.

"Sorry, Kai-sensei." Nico said with a deep bow.

Kai didn't respond, thinking back on how he had found Nico Tsukino. The obviously Japanese boy was found by authorities two months ago washed up on the beach with no memory other than his name and "BBA". He had been declared dead at the scene so Australian authorities were baffled when Nico suddenly came back from the dead.

Nico clung to Kai for the first month, following him around like a baby chick and it had been annoying, especially when he didn't seem to understand a word anyone said and couldn't speak. He could now but the first days were the hardest.

"Nico, I told you that you had to get ready to go back to Japan. You know that you're going there now."

"You're sending me to Japan today? Isn't it too early?" Nico asked, looking very distressed. Getting so attached to him was going to give Nico seperation anxiety when he's in Japan, Kai thought with a groan. He was no babysitter so why did he get stuck with Nico again?

 _"It could be because he decided he liked you."_ Dranzer answered.

 _"Thanks for your insight."_

"Not really. We need to find your family, your home and who you are, Nico. Don't you want to know?"

Nico frowned and crossed his arms, looking pensive, "Well, you're like my dad, aren't you? And Tyson in Japan is like my mom, no?" That was not how Kai wanted Nico to think things were like. Sure, he was older than Nico - probably by at least four years because Nico looked to be fifteen - but not old enough to be his father.

"No, Nico. I mean your biological parents."

"What does 'biological' mean?" Nico asked, smiling at Kai with a foolish grin. Kai wanted to punch him for it but found that he couldn't. He was becoming to soft and the reasons for that were named Tyson and Rin.

Kai would hate to admit that he missed Tyson but, to be honest, he did miss him. He missed being in the dojo with Tyson, Grandpa and their cat Aiko. There must be something wrong with him because he even missed Hiro. He wanted to go back to Japan, go back home.

"The ones that made you, Nico." Mariah answered as she ruffled the hair of the young male. Nico smiled at her gently before she placed a plane ticket on his hands, "The flight leaves in three hours so I suggest you go with Mathias and Liam, Nico."

Nico nodded sadly before wrapping his arms around Kai's neck. Kai was caught off-guard, even though he should have been used to Nico's shows of affections. He patted the boy's back awkwardly and Nico seperated himself from him.

"Do you want me to give something to Tyson?" Nico asked, holding out his hand.

There it was.

The feeling of missing something.

If Kai closed his eyes, he'd be able to imagine himself in the dojo, sitting down in the living room with Tyson and Aiko, Tyson leaning on his head while they watched reruns of old shows that bored Kai but only watched them because they could keep Tyson entertained.

Riku would be playing random keys on his small electronic piano as he wrote songs, Takao would be sketching Tyson and Kai and Ann would be trying to sleep amidst all the noise.

He would be able to hear the sounds of Aya and Hiro trying to make lunch with Hiro insisting that putting that much salt on their food would kill them and Aya saying that it would give the food flavour.

He would be able to hear the distant sounds of Grandpa Granger teaching Rin kendo since Rin was the only one that bothered to be his student with Alexander berating the man for being so hard on his delicate master and Rin insisting he wasn't made of glass.

Hilary would be off to the side with Kenny talking about plans for better systems of beyblades for other people while Hikaru and Kaori were informing Kenny about numbers Kai couldn't remember what they represented. Shun and Nami would be playing a game of poker with Ray and Max and Max would be losing because he was terrible at that game.

But he wasn't in the dojo, was he?

Kai removed his scarf and passed it to Nico, who took it without a word. The young boy smiled at him before taking off to gather the few belongings he owned. Mariah watched without a word as Kai had done and raised an eyebrow in question, "Why the scarf, Kai?"

"It's not like he's going to have it for very long." Kai replied and hid a smile, "I'll be in Japan before he knows it."

Unbeknowst to him, the world began to shift and Clockworker laughed at fate's cruel design. The battle was about to unfold.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: So much advancement to the plot. We get to meet Nico and find out a little bit more about Tsubasa Mizushima and Yudai. I wonder where the Third Elder is at.**

 **Night: Do not be afraid of writing us a review as they are appreciated.**

 **Chaos: Tune in next time for chapter 4.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night**

 **Song: A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night by IA**


	5. Chapter 4: A Tale of Six Trillion Years

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin**

 **Anime: Chapter 4 of Plot. Ahhhh. Spoiler: our bad guys will finally resurface and how won't be pretty. That's all that needs to be said at the moment. *screams* To the chapter!**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **4: A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night**

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Rikku's screams made Tyson, Rin, Aya, Hilary, Eden, Hikaru, Shun, Nami and Riku scream as well. Tyson fell to his knees, feeling pain course through his body. He covered his ears and closed his eyes before he began to see-.

First Elder was standing alone in a glowing room. She was wearing a white dress and wore no shoes, something that seemed painful to Tyson because the ground was littered with spikes. She walked towards the platform in the form of tree, wincing whenever her feet were impaled by the spikes.

 _"Successor of Yggdrasil, where are you?"_ She sang, kneeling down and placing her hands together in a praying motion, _"Can you not see what we do? Oh, tree of life, please keep living. Take my life to live a little longer, until the successor appears bearing Irregular and restores life and stability, death and instability. With my life in the line, I will feed this dying tree until the successor appears."_

The roots of the tree stump wrapped themselves around her ankles and wrists. First only winced before the roots wrapped around her neck and squeezed. She let out a small whimper and whispered something they could not hear-.

Tyson opened his eyes and found himself on the ground of the training grounds. He looked to see everyone was in a similar position and Riku had even fallen out of his wheelchair. Hilary rubbed her head, "Did anyone else see that girl?"

"It wasn't just any girl," Tyson answered, eyes wide as he got to his knees, "That was First Elder."

"First Elder? That was First Elder?" Kaori asked as she helped Nami get up. Rin had already gotten on his two feet and was already on his way to help Riku get back on his wheelchair when he stopped, looking up at the ceiling, "Anyone mind helping her down?"

They all looked up to see Rikku was on the ceiling, her eyes a dull white. She was speaking but they couldn't hear what she was saying. She screamed again before dropping to the ground.

"Rikku!"

Tyson turned slightly to see Ritsu running to the aid of Rikku. He cradled her limp form before looking at all of them, "What happened to her? What happened to my little sister?"

Tyson barely registered the fact that Rikku and Ritsu were siblings - it should've been obvious because they both had the same hair color and similar facial features - before Rin answered him, his tone of voice professional, "Ritsu, tamer of Frey, your sister has been identified as the personification of the apocalypse, Ragnarok. You know what will happen if you're not around to stop her next time, correct?"

"Rin, you're insane!" Ritsu yelled, cradling his sister's head closer to his body, "My sister is not Ragnarok. There must be a mistake."

Rin frowned, "Ritsu, be reasonable. The only reason you and Rikku came out of the Underground was because I believed you two would be Irregular or Ragnarok. You are certainly neither, Ritsu Yamamoto, but your sister has just shown that she is Ragnarok."

"Rin, please, she's just a kid." Ritsu whispered.

"What the hell is going on?" Aya said as she stood in front of the arguing males, "What the hell are Irregular and Ragnarok? Can either of you speak our actual language?"

"An explanation would be in order." Tyson said. He looked around to see that everyone was agreeing with him except for Riku. He was silent, looking at his hands and his legs.

Rin sighed, running a hand through his hair, "As I told Riku, I had a vision. It was a message from Third Elder and she seemed to be in pain. She told me about finding people known as Yggdrasil's successor, Irregular, Ragnarok, The Witch of Darkness, The Broken Halves of the Same Soul, Heart of Erebus and the Child of the Universe. I began to investigate all of them with Katsu Kurumada and the one I was close to cracking was the being known as Ragnarok."

"Ragnarok is the term of the apocalypse in Norse mythology and would be brought upon by the trickster god Loki." Ritsu continued, "Knowing that a lot of the mythological gods were based on the holy beasts, Rin realized that it would be the tamer of Loki that would be the personification of Ragnarok."

"I found Rikku, and Loki, by chance in the BeyUnderground and have been keeping her around to see if she was the personification of Ragnarok. All my evidence was lacking until this moment. Rikku is, without a doubt, Ragnarok."

"So you want to kill her?!" Ritsu shot back.

"I won't allow our world to be destroyed because of your attachment." Rin answered and Tyson noticed that half of Rin's left eye had turned white. That meant that Night wanted Rikku to die too. That couldn't be it, right?

"Attachment?! She's my sister!"

"If Erebus and Eden's Rapture get their hands on her, all of the worlds are in danger, you dolt. Do you want everything to fall for the sake of you not wanting your sister to die? Sacrifices are hard to make but we must do them for the happiness of others."

"She's twelve, Night!"

"Do you not think I know this, Ritsu?" Night answered, looking at the ground, "Rin shares your sentiment, actually. He knows the pain of losing a loved one. I do as well but we must see the bigger picture. Ragnarok can be the one that will tip the balance in this battle. Erebus will not hesitate to use her against us."

"But Night." Ritsu muttered softly, clutching his sister tightly. He was shaking, obviously hating the idea of his sister being murdered. He sniffed, "Isn't there another way?"

"Do you think you and Frey can defeat my other self?" Night asked. When Ritsu stayed quiet, Night looked at Tyson and addressed them, "As we are now, divided, we will not be able to defeat Erebus. If you want to keep Rikku alive, then you will have to have the power to defeat Eden's Rapture. Do you understand?"

Ritsu nodded, "I will become stronger. Erebus will not defeat me. All to keep Rikku alive."

"We'll help too, Night," Hilary inputted. Night looked at all of them with his calculating gaze before that gaze fell on Tyson. The beast looked relieved and Tyson sighed. Night really didn't want to kill Rikku after all; he was just saying it so they could try their hardest to become stronger.

"Thank you." Night said before the white was replaced with blue. Rin fell to his knees in exhaustion before getting up. Rikku stirred from her slumber as well and Ritsu nearly cried when he saw her.

"What happened?" She muttered before placing a hand on her head, "I felt such a sharp pain and-."

"It's nothing, Ri," Ritsu replied before helping her up. He looked at all of them, "It was absolutely nothing."

Aya was silent, watching the brother-sister interaction, before turning to Rin, "By the way, why did you come here? Or did you just show up here to be cryptic? Or because you missed us?"

"Get real, Aya." Rin replied, flicking her forehead. As Aya made a noise of discomfort, Rin turned to Tyson, "I wanted you to be the first to know about the big news, as you are the World Champion and all."

Tyson didn't understand for a moment what Rin meant. When he did, his eyes widened in surprise, "No way. You're serious?"

Rin nodded, smiling at him, "As the grave. Mr. Dickenson finally confirmed it with me. The World Tournament will be held in a month from now so it's best to prepare yourself."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

Gears grinded together. The ticking of the clock. A gentle heartbeat. The sound of ragged breaths. The wind blew harshly against something. Fire cackled nearby. Something hit glass lightly.

"Hello, Irregular, can you hear me?" The voice was loud and soft at the same time, male and female, hoarse yet clear, commanding yet submissive. What a sound fixed with paradoxes.

 _Huh?_

"I guess you can, then. Hello again, Irregular. I am Clockworker."

 _Clockworker? What an odd name._

The paradox snorted before retorting, "Says the one called Irregular."

 _That's not my name. I have a different name._

"You lost your old name, Irregular, just like I have. We're the pawns of the World Tree Yggdrasil so our old identities when we were humans don't matter anymore."

 _But I remember my old name._

"Nah. You don't," Clockworker said, sounding more masculine as he/she continued with a gentle, more warm, tone, "And you really don't need it anymore so don't bother saying it to me."

 _You're a buzzkill, Clockworker._

"Hehe, yeah," Clockworker said as he definitely sounded more like a man, "Well, as nice a chat as this is, you gotta go. I did steal you away from someone and he's pretty pissed. If he finds me with you or the successor, I'm dead meat. See ya later, Irregular!"

 _Wha-?! Where am I going? Clockworker!_

"Don't stress too much, Irregular! You're just going to the main reality of Earth where Third Elder waits for you. Hope you enjoy! Just follow her trail and you'll be fine! Good luck, Irregular!"

Darkness.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Granger Dojo, Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Grandpa Granger was alone doing his regular stretches when he heard something fall in the pond. He would have dismissed it had he not been home alone. He grabbed his wooden sword and headed to the direction of the noise.

He turned the corner and nearly dropped his sword in surprise.

A girl had fallen into the pond and, while Ryu Granger had seen a lot of things, he had never seen water frozen in time from a splash. The girl looked exhausted, her eyes glowing like stars. Her black hair was splayed all around her like a halo and the clothes she was wearing were practically rags.

Something about her looked so familiar, though.

The girl gasped for breath before time restarted and the water dropped back into the pond. She remained floating over the pond before sitting upright. She delicately stood up, standing on the water's surface as if it was the ground.

"Am I here?" She wondered to herself aloud before her eyes stopped glowing and they turned green. Her hair that had been floating around her body was reclaimed by gravity while her rags became a simple green and light blue kimono.

"What-?" Grandpa couldn't finish his train of thought as the girl turned to him. She smiled crookedly at him and waved at him. She walked out of the pond and made it safely to the ground.

"I don't suppose you would recognize me," She replied before bowing at him, "I am Third Elder, a friend of Tyson and the others. I hope they have mentioned me."

"Not much. T-man and the others tend not to talk about what happened two years ago." Third visibly deflated and sighed in what seemed to be disappointment.

"I get it. Bad memories with my kids, nephews and nieces." She muttered before standing upright, "Never mind that. I need to speak to Tyson and the others. This is an emergency."

"Then why don't you tell me, Third?"

Third went pale before coming to stand in front of Grandpa Granger. A golden staff appeared with the emblem of a tree on the top. She growled, eyes cat-like the way Ray's did when he was angered.

Standing on top of the gate of the dojo was a fourteen year old boy with black hair and golden eyes dressed in dark blue jeans, red Converse and a black shirt that had the words "It's cute when you think I'm listening to you". His golden eyes were glowing and he had a golden double sided scythe on his grasp with the symbol of the tree like Third's in the middle of the dual-scythe.

"Fifteen, you bastard." She growled out while the teenager, Fifteenth Elder, grinned although there was no mirth in his eyes. She tightened her grip on her weapon.

"Found you." He said, smirking cruelly.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Montana, United States, Earth_

Max walked around the rubble, the crying and screaming of the people nearby muted as he saw the aftermath of a tragedy. He was so shocked, he didn't know where to turn to look. This place was a disaster zone that looked straight out of a movie.

He kneeled down and brushed aside some debris to find a child's toy. It was a light pink teddy bear and seeing it nearly made Max cry. This place had been a peaceful town until the earthquake hit five hours ago. His mother had decided to come here to investigate it due to the fact that this town was not near any fault lines and the earthquake had no epicenter. The town had just suffered a supernatural-like earthquake.

"Why?" Max whispered, holding the toy and squeezing it. At least one hundred fity-seven civilians out of the five hundred in this small town had been found alive yet that did not calm Max's aching heart.

In the first-aid tents, Max remembered seeing the crying children, the distraught parents and the wailing injured. It hurt seeing them, the people that had lost so much. Max closed his eyes and felt something brush his hair aside. He opened it to see Draciel - in his human form that closely resembled Max's except for his dark purple hair and black eyes - kneeling in front of him.

 _"Don't cry, Max. There was nothing we could do to stop it."_

"Why did this have to happen?" Max asked, eyes not meeting his partner's, "How could this have happened? Mom says that this town is not near any fault line and hadn't ever been hit by an earthquake, especially one that ranks at 5."

 _"Don't think like a human, Max,"_ Draciel responded. Max looked up at his partner before Draciel looked around, _"Look at this place, this place of death and destruction, as my tamer."_

Max bit his lower lip before doing so. The ground had cracks in the ground and the houses were all reduced to rubble. There was nothing salvagable around here. He noticed some nearby trees were twisted, not uprooted. This didn't look like an ordinary earthquake.

 _"Erebus, Persephone, Hynos,"_ Max began to chant, remembering the names Night had told him when he retold the tale of the holy beasts. He stood up and began to walk, _"Phobus, Mars, Vulcan, Juno, Nike."_ He paused in front of pieces of broken glass, staring at his reflection and seeing parts of his hair had turned black. Draciel was joining with him for a reason and Max dreaded to find out why.

 _"Notus, Asteria, Morpheus, Deimos, Asclepius, Hemera, Aether, Moros, Ker, Momus,"_ Max continued down the list, his legs moving in what he thought was a random direction. Seeing the glass that seemed to be leading him down a certain road, though, Max knew he was on the right track.

 _"Oizys, Apate, Philotes . . ."_ Max paused once more, this time in front of two trees that had been twisted together to form an arch. They resembled the trees that he had seen earlier so Max knew he and Draciel had reached their destination. He cross the arch and bile threatened to spill out. He swallowed it, a single tear running down his eye.

 _"Geras, Eris and Thanatos."_

The bodies of some of the missing citizens were arranged in a circle, as if they were performing a ritual in this empty meadow. Certain corpses had numbers carved into their bodies and all the ones that had numbers on their bodies were children. In fact, all of the corpses that were forming the clock were children.

The bodies of teenagers were strung upside down from the surrounding trees, all of their hands placed in a praying position. All of them were missing their clothes so the blonde was able to see the markings someone had placed in their bodies, making Max avert his eyes from them in horror and embarresment.

The bodies of the adults and elderly were in a small hill. They were all missing their arms and legs, which had been used to create a throne on the top of the small hill. On said throne of arms and legs, there was a small, crying child.

"Oh no," Max whispered, cutting the connection with Draciel, before rushing to the child.

The child must have been at least seven years old, too young to have witnessed this. He had short black hair that he was using to over his eyes as he whimpered and sobbed, crying out for his mother and father. Max stopped in front of him, looking at the pile of humans he had to climb through to reach the child.

"Hey, it's okay," Max tried to relax the sobbing child. The boy turned to look at him and the red eyes that met Max's made him pause. These eyes were a shade darker than his but this boy was practically identical to Chaos. The fact that he was the lone survivor frightened Max.

"My mommy," He sobbed, looking at a green haired red-eyed woman that had her arms and legs ripped off like the rest of the people, "I don't know where my daddy is. Help me, please."

"I will." Max answered as he began climbing up the men and women. He reached out for the child, who immediately clung to him. Max pressed the child close to his chest and the two tried hard to not look at the horror around them, "What's your name?"

"Holt." The boy whispered, his finger clutching Max's shirt desperately, "They called me Chaos. Who is that?"

"It's okay, Holt," Max whispered, certain now that the destruction that had been caused was not an earthquake. He paused, looking at the markings in the bodies of the teenagers. He let his eyes merge with Draciel's and recognized them as the ancient language of the holy beasts, the first language that Night had said hadn't been used for centuries.

 _Yudai, Kazuya, Noriyuki, Masahiro, Hiroshi, Hideaki, Yukio, Akeno, Masao, Hajime, Nikko, Shou, Akira, Taishi, Usagi, Rei, Asa, Kadan, Rai, Taro, Toru, Kane, Naoko, Shuichi, Kenshin, Shiro, Tsubasa, Haru, return from beyond. Ashes, blood and bones, regained from hearts of human sacrifices. Steal from Yggdrasil, steal from the Elders. Rise, fallen tamers of Chaos, and bring back the first beast._

Yudai and Tsubasa. The names that Tyson told him about to look for. Who were they? Who were the others as well? Former tamers of Chaos? Why did Eden's Rapture want the tamers of Chaos that had died? Max needed answers and perhaps what had happened with Holt and his town was part of the answer.

He needed to go back to Japan.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: This chapter was quite a ride to write. First, Third and Fifteenth Elder appear - although First was through a vision - and Clockworker and Irregular are briefly mentioned along with all the members of Eden's Rapture.**

 **Night: Not to mention I come out and Max finally reappears here.**

 **Chaos: In quite a disturbing scene. Lay off the psychological things because Max seeing that was scary. And what does those markings mean?**

 **Anime: All in due time. Next time, Kai returns because I miss my favorite half-Russian.**

 **Rin: Thanks for that.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Monster**

 **Song: Monster by EXO**


	6. Chapter 5: Monster

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin, Ray x Max, Bryan x Tala**

 **Anime: Chapter 5 of Plot and . . . Well, you'll see. I can't say much. Just that Kai is the central character of this chapter and Erebus makes it to Earth.**

 _ **~~EDIH~~~**_

 **5: Monster**

 _Granger Dojo, Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Fifteen and Third were in a classic standoff and Grandpa Granger was in between these two powerful beings. Third was seething while Fifteen was just smiling. It was so odd to see a nineteen year old woman glaring up at a fourteen year old but, considering they were ageless beings, it wasn't so odd. The appearances they wore was more out of convenience and comfort than anything else.

"You're a traitor." Third growled out, her fists clutched painfully close, "As soon as First left and disappeared, you sold us out to Erebus and his twisted beasts. I was the only one able to get out of our dimension. Now, you're killing the World Tree, dooming the remaining dimensions. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Fifteen asked with a chuckle, the sound matching his youthful appearance, "I'm doing it for fun."

"Fun?!"

Fifteen floated down, landing on the water of the pond and floating on it, "Of course. This world is too small, too predictable. I would have willingly let Chaos burn this world in order to have fun. I didn't because I've despised Seventeen and her disgusting inventions since Yggdrasil spat her out of his core."

"You're causing this much destruction just because you want entertainment and for your hatred towards Seventeen." Third answered, trembling slightly as more blood oozed out of her side, "You're so pathetic."

"Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately, Third?" Fifteen asked, fiddling with one of his locks of hair while a cruel expression was on his face, "You can't even shift into your true form and are stuck with the substitute form. How pathetic is that? You're probably worse than Seventeen."

"Shut up." Third restrained herself from beginning a fight. Fifteen was right that she was weaker - thanks to the wound he managed to inflict on her and because of Yggdrasil losing power - than normal. Not to mention that she couldn't fight here in fear of killing anyone nearby the dojo.

Fifteen chuckled before he took to the sky, his form shimmering, "I didn't come to fight, though. I came to tell you that Erebus and Eden's Rapture are on the move. Now that I've found you, the Sun and Moon Teams can begin their operation without worrying over your interruption."

Third froze, "What are you talking about?"

Fifteen smirked, "As we speak, Eden's Rapture is heading over here to destroy the kid Night died to protect. In a way, that'll render his sacrifice useless but he was rather useless, don't you think?"

"The kid Night died to protect?" Third trembled as she remembered the final day of Night before her eyes widened, "You don't mean-."

"Kai Hiwatari is going to die."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Australia, Earth_

"The plane already left." Mariah said as she, Tala, Miguel, Garland and Kai watched the aircraft soar into the sky where the sun was already setting. Inside, Nico, Mathias and Liam were heading to Japan to meet Mr. Dickenson and Tyson. Hopefully, Mathias and Liam could get better training in Japan with Kaori's supervision - the trainers in Australia weren't that great - and be in the next tournament.

Rin and Tyson would figure out why Nico was such an important person that First Elder felt compelled to tell them to look out for him. With Rin's intelligence and Tyson's instincts, Kai knew that the mystery of Nico would be solved.

"What now?" Tala asked as he yawned, "Our job's done so we're probably heading home after this." He stretched and Miguel yawned. The five professional bladers were exhausted; they hadn't had much time to relax or sleep in all the time they had been here working. They were all wishing to go back home.

"Yup." Mariah yawned, covering her mouth as she did so, "I miss the others."

"I bet Kai's missing Tyson a lot." Tala snickered and Kai glared at the red-head. He could tolerate Rin's teasings - he was practically his little brother after all so it was as if it was expected of him - but he hated being teased by anyone else.

"Don't give him that look," Mariah laughed, "You know he's right."

"I wonder if that's why you've been so cranky recently," Miguel joined in with the teasing while Garland sighed at their antics, "Tyson has been a good influence when it comes to your attitude. Not being near him for three months must have been hard."

"Stop teasing Kai." Garland said, scolding the three as if they were children and he was their annoyed guardian. Kai nodded in Garland's direction, appreciating his help. He looked up at the sky, "We should get going-."

The ground under them trembled. Mariah fell on her knees in shock, not expecting hte shockwave, while the boys tried hard not to do the same. Kai looked around before he made himself look at this situation from Dranzer's eyes. He still saw nothing but he could see dark auras nearby. Eden's Rapture?

"Which should be the first to go?"

They all looked up in time before Miguel was sent flying. The person that did so was a woman with long curly blonde hair that floated around her like a halo and grey eyes. She was dressed in a skin-tight black dress with a slit on one side and wore no sleeves. She had a golden apple in one hand and a black scythe on the other.

"Eris!" Mariah yelled, getting up. Her eyes began to glow pink as she joined with Gallux. She managed to do it just in time as another person tried to send her flying.

Their next assailant was a tanned, black-haired golden-eyed boy dressed in a white uniform with a scythe on one hand. His ears were pointy, like elf ears, while large black wings were coming out of his back. This was none other than Thanatos, holy beast of death.

"Eris and Thanatos?" Kai asked as he merged himself with Dranzer, his hair turn red-white while wings sprouted from his back. Within their soul room, Dranzer glared at the beasts they were facing. He wasn't very happy to see them.

By now, Tala and Garland had both merged with their own holy beasts, judging by Tala's red hair having gone white and Garland's silver hair had turned golden. Tala shot icicles from his hands to Eris, who laughed as she dodged them.

"It's an honor for you to recognize me, tamer of Hikari-Suzaku." Eris said, giving a mock bow in his direction, "Thanatos and I are just scouts. We're here to kill you, Kai Hiwatari."

"You're crazier than Chaos and the Forsaken Fallen. They were more realistic." Kai answered with a smirk. Eris frowned at that before she was distracted once more, dodging the attacks of Mariah-Gallux.

"Die by us in a fast way or die a slow, painful one. It's your choice." Thanatos said as he began to battle with Tala and Garland. Thanatos's eyes glowed as he grinned, "It'll be so enjoyable to kill you."

Kai heard something coming his way so he jumped, his wings helping him float in the air. A dagger had been thrown at him by twin boys with identical red hair and red-violet eyes. They were dressed in similar uniforms as Thanatos, except only one twin was wearing a black uniform.

"We are Phobus and Deimos. We have come to kill you too." The twins spoke in unison, similar to when Hikaru and Shun had a similar thought. They were eerie-looking, their eyes glowing with malicious intent.

"Where the hell are they coming from?" Tala asked as he shot more icicles at their foes. Phobus and Deimos seperated to dodge it before they joined hands once more, laughing at them.

"We can handle this." Eris said before she screamed. They all looked to see Mariah had managed to wound Eris. Her claws had ripped apart the side of the beast's stomach. Mariah smirked, the blood in her hands not fazing her.

"You bitch!" Eris screeched, her golden apple falling from her hands along with her scythe. Mariah looked down at her and she felt a pang in her heart but the feeling belonged to Gallux, not her. Seeing Eris in this state made her hesitate in her attack.

Eris vanished and they all saw that she was in the arms of a taller woman. The taller woman had orange hair like Brooklyn's that was as long as Ray's and red-brown eyes that resembled Tyson's. She had two blue shark fins on her right cheek like Kai and the clothes she wore were reminiscent to Max's two years ago.

"Nike, I don't need your help." Eris growled out at the holy beast of victory. Nike ignored her, opting to glare at Mariah and hold Eris protectively. Eris flushed and allowed Nike to hold her closer to her chest.

"You'll pay for that, Mariah." Nike stated before she nodded. Mariah yelled out in pain as another woman attacked her from her back. This woman had raven-black hair with some white hairs and hazel eyes. She was dressed in animal skins and wore no shoes, a trend that wasn't as popular with Eden's Rapture. With the way the woman looked, she seemed to belong more with the Forsaken Fallen than with these beasts.

"Eris, Thanatos, Phobus, Deimos, Nike and Juno." Kai recognized all of them thanks to Dranzer. That left Geras, Mars, Vulcan, Notus, Asteria, Morpheus, Asclepius, Hemera, Aether, Moros, Ker, Momus, Oizys, Apate, Philotes, Persephone, Hynos and Erebus. So far, though, they were already surrounded.

"Any plans?" Tala asked as he and Garland joined Kai. Mariah did so as well after dodging another one of Juno's attacks while they had no idea why Miguel had not returned to them. They began to fear the worse.

"We take them out before more show up-." Mariah started to say before stopping. Three more beasts had shown up, all of them looking at them with wide grins.

The first beast, the hulking figure that was Mars, had the same flaming red hair as the twins except he was wearing dark shades to hide his eyes. The shades, however, could not hide the red glow of his eyes, while he wore the dark uniform so many of the men were wearing.

The second beast, a small, slender figure that was Hemera, was wearing a white dress that was changing colors from light pink to light purple. She had light brown hair with the tips of her hair glowing light pink and violet eyes. The gentle smile she wore made them want to trust her but they knew that would be a mistake.

The last beast, the child looking Morpheus, was also the one that was dragging Miguel towards them. Morpheus had golden-blonde hair and silver eyes while he was dressed in the white uniform like Thanatos and Phobus.

"Hello, Kai Hiwatari," Morpheus waved before laying Miguel down in front of him. He smiled, brushing Miguel's hair away from his face, before looking at Eris, "You and Juno should know better than to attack people when they're not aware. How dare you."

"Shut up. You're not righteous, Morpheus, so don't you dare judge us," Juno replied angrily, running a hand through her hair, "Otherwise, you'd be with the Forsaken Fallen and not us."

Morpheus rolled his eyes before walking towards Kai. Kai stiffened before Morpheus bowed in front of him. Kai frowned at Morpheus as the beast finally looked up at him, his gaze calm and nonthreatening, "As you know, I am Morpheus of Eden's Rapture. I am part of the Sun Team led by Persephone. I am afraid that our mission is to kill you, Kai Hiwatari."

"Why?" Kai asked. He wanted to understand why they were targeting him specifically and getting answers from the sanest of these beasts was for the best.

Morpheus blinked before sighing, "Erebus and his plans require you die. You see, you're one of the main pillars that support this world of humans. Ray Kon, Max Tate and Tyson Granger are one of those pillars as well. With your death, though, the pillar known as Tyson will crumble along with the rest of them. Or so he says, of course. After all, the human heart is rather weak, just like a beast's."

"Morpheus, shut up." Juno said again, ready to beat up the child-like spirit. Morpheus giggled, obviously knowing that he had struck a nerve. Juno narrowed her eyes, "What shall you do, then, Kai Hiwatari?"

"Maybe we should make him join his father." Eris hissed as Nike set her down. Her wounds had healed, enough to be on her feet. Nike stood nearby, in case she fell.

Kai paused, turning to the beast, "What did you say?"

"You heard her," Phobus and Deimos answered, their grins matching. When Kai turned to face them, they seemed to relish the aura of fear Kai was radiating, "Susumu Hiwatari is in our hands and we can choose whether he lives or dies."

"Lies." Tala looked at his old teammate and could see the fear in his eyes. Kai was letting them into his head and that was going to be a problem. Just hearing his father's name had already rattled the half Russian.

"Oh?" Morpheus created a bubble and tossed it to Kai. The phoenix blader caught it and looked in it to see his father, a man he hadn't seen in almost a decade.

His father was dangling somewhere in darkness, sleeping calmly. There were tree branches wrapped his arms and legs while Kai could see someone was humming to his father softly. Judging by the wrinkled hands he could see, he deduced it was Geras.

"You see? We don't lie." Morpheus said before the bubble was thrown in his direction. Kai was fuming, flames forming on his fists. Erebus and Eden's Rapture had some nerve kidnapping his father and keeping him with them like an object. They were despicable. How dare they!

"Release my father!" Kai yelled before rushing to Morpheus. Morpheus wasn't fast enough to dodge so he screamed when he felt his whole body catch on fire. Kai rushed to the twins, who were also caught off-guard and began to burn.

"You insane brat!" Juno said as she got in his way, stopping Kai from getting near Eris and Nike. Kai frowned, seeing how simple it had been for Juno to catch his fists. Juno smirked, "You're significantly weaker than Dark Dranzer, tamer of Dranzer."

An invisible force sent Kai flying backwards, Mariah and Tala catching him. Kai looked up at Juno, impressed at her strength. How had the Forsaken Fallen beaten them when they had been so badly outnumbered? The feat that the eleven dark beasts had undertaken seemed incredible now.

"Let's just kill him now." Mars grunted. The flames had died off from the bodies of Morpheus and the twins. All of them, with the exception of Morpheus, were glaring at Kai. Kai didn't really give a care, though. He was going to rescue his father and defeat these beasts.

Juno walked slowly towards him before her eyes widened. She smirked in Kai's direction and fell to her knees, bowing. The others around her, except Morpheus, did the same. He just gave a slight bow.

From above them, a black portal appeared and out came Persephone - the woman still looked like she did before judging by the memories the bit-beasts provided their wielders - followed by Hypnos.

"Hello, there." Persephone waved, giving Kai, Mariah, Garland and Tala a mocking curtsy, "I'm afraid that Geras, Vulcan, Notus, Asteria, Asclepius, Aether, Moros, Ker, Momus, Oizys, Apate and Philotes cannot attend as they are tending to matters in our home. A shame, as they wanted to witness your death, Kai Hiwatari."

"You keep talking about my death but I don't see you doing it." Kai shot back.

Hypnos bowed as well, "We were only distracting you, giving you the sense that you'll live. After all, your executioner is someone you cannot stand up against."

Erebus came out of the portal and Mariah felt her legs buckling by the power he was emitting. This beast reminded her of the power of Chaos and Night, the ancient beasts whose powers were to be feared. Facing off against someone with their power frightened her and, by the look of Garland and Tala's faces, she wasn't the only one.

"You look a lot like Night."

Erebus smiled at Kai, making him look a lot like the deceased beast they had grown fond of, "I'm glad you think so. The difference is that Night appeared to help you from the nightmares while I am attempting to push you back into those hellish dreams."

"Get rid of the spares." Persephone, leader of the Sun Team, said with a gentle smile on her face. The beasts decided to do so and, soon, Kai was seperated from his companions.

Garland and Tala faced off against Juno, Hemera, Eris, Nike, Thanatos and Mars while Mariah faced off against Phobus, Deimos and Morpheus. Erebus, along with Persephone and Hypnos, stared at Kai and he knew that, if he tried to help his companions, they would stop him.

"Shit." Tala said aloud as Thanatos managed to cut the side of his face. He wasn't able to recover before Nike was on him, landing a solid blow on his stomach. Tala retaliated by freezing her leg.

Garland's blows were working against Mars until Juno stepped in and he had to go back to the defensive. He pulled deeper into his bond with Apollon before the battle continued.

Mariah had already managed to cause long gashes on her opponents, Deimos holding his left eye as blood oozed out from the wound. Morpheus had three lines across his right cheek and he didn't look too happy about the wound.

"Ray's throat has been cut, Lee's guts are spilling, Kevin is screaming for his eyes and poor Gary can't do much since he's already dead~." Phobus giggled as he dodged Mariah's relentless attacks, "Oh, who has done that to the White Tigers? Could it have been you?"

"Shut up!" Mariah screamed, tears threatening to spill. Damn, Kai thought, remembering that Phobus was a beast of phobias so he could see into their hearts and show their deepest fears. Such a power to use against anyone was cruel.

"At least try to fight back tears, my dear," Phobus said, "Fighting with you is more fun than Hecate, you know? She didn't even cry when I mentioned her fears. You, though, are so easy."

"Don't listen to him, Mariah! Don't let his poisoned words get to you and twist your heart in fear!" Kai yelled. His words, however, did not reach the pink-haired girl and he watched as she went to the defensive, Phobus and Deimos enjoying the panic and fear in Mariah's face.

"Shhh," Morpheus whispered, his voice almost sing-song as he wrapped his arms around Mariah's waist, "It's all but a dream, my dear. Sleep now, dear Mariah. Let yourself fall into the distant dream where there are no fears or sorrows. Sleep this dreamful sleep."

Mariah went limp in Morpheus's hold, the beast humming a soothing song that reminded Kai of the lullaby Natasha used to sing to him and Rin to get them to sleep when the two had been too restless.

"Mariah!" Kai yelled and took a step forward. Something pulled him back and he saw it was silver strings that Hypnos was wielding. When had he been attached to those strings?

"Don't move or they'll die, dear Kai-dorogaja~." Persephone giggled, "We are going to be lenient on them, after all. Normally, we'd kill our enemies but we make an exception today."

"Why are you so intent in killing me?" Kai gasped out as he felt the strings tighten around his neck.

Erebus appeared in his line of sight, his eyes narrowed to near slits, "Simple. Besides being one of Earth's protectors with Dranzer, you saved the life of that disgusting boy Nico Tsukino after I tried so hard to kill him."

"You're the reason that Nico remembers nothing?" Kai asked, glancing to see that Tala remained fighting while Mariah, Garland and Miguel laid down next to each other.

"That wasn't my intention. My intention was to kill him, you see." Erebus answered as if he was talking about the weather. He looked up at the sky, "He is her. The woman I killed and split her heart and soul in two so she could never be reborn."

Kai's eyes widened at the implication that Nico was, in fact, the young girl that Erebus had killed, thus starting this twisted story they were now forced to play. Erebus must have seen Kai realize this as he nodded, looking sour, "Of course, I didn't expect her soul to be reborn into two people fifteen years ago."

Two people? Two people were reborn from the split soul of Sasha and Nico had been one of them. The other person . . . who was the other person? The strings tightened and Kai cried out, feeling blood trickle down his neck from the pressure. He lost his train of thought immediately, his mind focusing on the pain.

"We're done here, Erebus~." Morpheus said, trembling slightly from the cold. Tala was asleep inside an ice block, as if Wolborg had been trying to keep him from hearing the dark whispers of Morpheus. It failed but Kai was impressed that half of the members of Eden's Rapture were frozen thanks to Tala and Wolborg. Considering how hot Australia was, Tala must have been fighting extremely hard to fight them off.

"Finally!" Persephone said as they closed in on Kai. She smiled softly, "It's time for your execution."

"In your dreams."

Kai didn't expect the searing pain to start from his chest. He coughed out and looked to see a shard of darkness latched into his chest, centimeters above his heart. He could feel his heart slowing down and Dranzer panicked within the confines of their soul room.

 _"Kai, it's okay,"_ Dranzer reassured him as if his body wasn't shutting down on him, _"I'm gathering my power and we're going to-."_ The connection was lost and the warmth of Dranzer vanished. What had just happened?

"Pesky things, these soul bonds or whatever." Hypnos said as Kai felt himself return to his old self, his wings vanishing, "Making Dranzer sleep was more difficult thanks to his bond to this brat."

"It really is." Juno agreed, holding Dranzer's bit-chip in her hands. She crushed it and Kai's eyes widened. She let the chip fall and stepped on it, "I did like you, 'Dranzer', but it sickens me over how you let a human control you."

 _Dranzer. Dranzer. Dranzer!_

"Fuck you." Kai managed to gasp out as he felt a stab on his left side. He hissed, refusing to let out screams. He didn't even shed tears. These bastards would not hear his painfilled screams or his heartbroken sobs. Over his dead body.

Morpheus hummed and Kai decided that he hated that sound over anything at the moment, "Tyson Granger. I wonder how he'll cry in your funeral?"

"Shut . . . up." Kai said, Persephone tilting his head up so he could look Erebus in the eyes. Dark voids met him and he growled, "I was wrong. You . . . are nothing like . . . Night."

"You might be right on that, Kai." Erebus answered before pulling out the shard from his heart, "I don't care, though. No one can be like Night and that's fine by me." He tsked, placing a hand on Kai's cheek, "It's a shame that you take after Susumu. I didn't want to kill someone who looks so much like my dear friend."

Kai glanced at the shard and saw it was glowing red. Had Erebus stolen most of his life force? For what purpose? What did he plan to do to his life force? His questions stopped once Erebus snickered, "No wonder you had Rin, Aya and Tyson after you. You are handsome but not a beauty I appreciate. Tyson is a different story." The smile Erebus sent him made him get a chill.

"I'm going to enjoy making him one of my consorts." Erebus laughed, "Yudai won't mind me having consorts, bless my good husband so Tyson will join my collection. Won't that be nice?"

That was something Kai wouldn't allow. Pushing against the strings that held him in place, Kai clawed at Erebus's right eye with an intensity he didn't know he had. Erebus screamed in pain and that gave Kai some satisfaction. He wouldn't touch Tyson. Kai wouldn't let Erebus touch him, even if he died right here and now. Not his Tyson.

"Insolent piece of shit!" Persephone struck him and Kai coughed, spitting out blood. He felt so weak but he didn't care. He wasn't going to die. He was going to defy Erebus and defeat him.

He'd go back to Japan and go home to the dojo. Tyson would be waiting for him there with a wide grin and take him into his arms. He'd be worried over his wounds and treat them no matter how many times he said he was fine. Aiko, Grandpa, Max, Ray, Daichi, Kenny, Rin, Aya, Hilary, Tala, Bryan, Ian, Spencer, Riku, Takao, Hiro, Ann and the others would be there as well and they'd all be happy. Nico would be there too, with the scarf Kai had told him to give to Tyson. Yes, that was how it was going to turn out.

He felt the stab but felt no pain. He looked up to see Erebus glaring down at him with one of his eyes closed, blood oozing out of it. The strings released him and Kai fell forward, unsure of what to do. The wound in his heart that Erebus had inflicted was draining him of the remaining life he had left.

 _Tyson, Dranzer,_ Kai reached out for something that was beyond his reach. He heard Erebus chuckle weakly, "Become good food for the crows, Kai Hiwatari. Say hello to your whore mother and that bitch Natasha in Hell. I'll be sending Sasha's two souls to join you soon."

"Ty . . . son." Kai rasped out weakly before he felt his body turn cold. He felt a warm hand touch his cold one and smiled softly when he saw it was the happy go-lucky dragon blader he had grown to care so much for.

He was home.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Tyson was chatting eagerly with Rin about the new plans for the BBA when he felt something was horribly wrong. He paused and almost fell on his knees. Eden was, luckily, behind him awkwardly so he managed to catch him, "Whoa, Tyson, is something the matter?"

"I don't know." Tyson muttered, seeing the others turn to him in concern, as he straightened, "I just felt something go amiss. I feel as if a part of me is gone."

"Tyson, you look ready to cry." Rikku informed him, the smaller girl looking up at him with worried eyes, "Are you okay?"

"No." Tyson replied, "I'm not okay." Whatever it was that was gone, it was enough to cause him to shed a single tear, alarming Rin and the others greatly. Nothing was wrong, right? Kai, Hiro, Max, Daichi, Ray and everyone else was okay, right?

Some miles away from the BBA building, in the quaint Granger Dojo, a being laughed while another cried as Kai Hiwatari had fallen.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Above Pacific Ocean, Flight 903, En Route to Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Nico felt his heart cry out as he was above the ocean. He touched it and he saw a fourteen year old girl cry out for a beast known as Hikari-Suzaku. Who was that girl? She seemed so familiar, as if she was a part of him. That girl . . . she was the cause of everything. She was blaming herself for the death of. . .

"Nico, are you okay?" Mathias - a dark green haired sixteen year old boy with sky-blue eyes - asked, wiping away one of Nico's tears that he hadn't known he had spilled, "You're crying."

"I remembered." Nico whispered.

"Remembered what?" Mathias asked, looking at him with worried eyes.

"I remembered the name of the girl that started everything." Nico answered.

"What is her name?"

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Above Asia, Flight 690, En Route to Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Bryan was shocked when his charge began to shed tears right next to him. He frowned, looking at her, "Aria, what's wrong?"

Aria Umezawa - an amnesiac fifteen year old Japanese girl with long dark purple hair, sky blue eyes and an olive complexion - was shedding silent tears before looking outside, "I remembered."

"Remembered what?" Bryan asked, unaware that a similar conversation was happening in another plane that was heading to Japan as well.

"I remembered the name of the girl that started everything." Aria answered.

"What is her name?"

Together, at the same time in different places, the name of the girl resounded and the gears in Clockworker's tower began to turn after they had stopped for a brief moment in mourning of Kai Hiwatari.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: I'm so sorry, guys. I really am. Next chapter is going to show how Tyson, Max, Ray, Daichi, Rin, Aya and the others we know and love will react to the news of Kai's passing. Sorry.**

 **Note: **Whoever invented timezones makes writing from multiple perspectives in different places hard. Jumping from Australia to Japan time was hard. Luckily, they are one hour apart from each other so precious daylight is still out. So, it's around five or six p.m. in Bey City and six or seven p.m in Australia (if Kai's around Sydney). Also, Max's perspective took place in Montana, which takes place in the morning considering the timezones. The time must have been around two or three a.m since there is a long difference with Montana and Japan when it comes to time. And they all happened in, technically, the same day even though Japan and Australia are ahead of Montana by a day. Meanwhile, Ray is in China and (going by Hong Kong time) it is around four or five p.m, behind Japan by an hour. No wonder some of the Elders are crazy. Timezones are a bitch. I'm just going to keep all of them in Japan.****

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Just One Day**

 **Song: Just One Day by BTS**


	7. Chapter 6: Just One Day

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin, Ray x Max, Bryan x Tala**

 **Anime: Chapter 6 of Pain. Sorry for the long span in update but I was working on Monochromatic Blood (full-length fic of my oneshot Bloodstained Snow), One Reason, PROGRAM Nezumi and some original stories. I apologize for neglecting this fic, guys. But, here I am! I'm back.**

 _ **~~EDIH~~~**_

 **6: Just One Day**

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Tyson was walking home after the hectic day in the BBA building. He still felt something was amiss while the others were still mulling over the events that had taken place in the training room - namely, the display of Ragnarok's power and the announcement of the new tournament.

"Well, we're heading home." Aya waved goodbye to Hilary, Kenny, Tyson, Riku and Rin as she, Nami, Hikaru, Shun and Kaori finally made it to their neighborhood. Eden, Rikku and Ritsu had left before them so it was just them now.

"See you tomorrow in school, Aya-mermaid." Riku waved as they watched the group leave. Once they were out of sight, Riku yawned leaning close to Rin who was pushing his wheelchair, "Rin-rabbit, are Takao and Ann waiting for us the dojo already?"

"You're not staying in your apartment?" Tyson asked, a little shocked that the Mizushima family was just going to barge into his house without notifying him first. Grandpa wouldn't mind the visitors - Rin was his favorite student and he loved Ann, Takao and Riku - though.

Rin shook his head before huffing, "Takao happened to find a nest of termites living there and it ate pieces of our wall and furniture so we're waiting for renovations and the fumigation. We had been staying with Aya and the others but Ann was annoyed that she kept bumping into the furniture so we're going to be in the dojo for a while."

"Rin-rabbit was against it cause he's scared of Aiko." Riku laughed. Rin blushed, causing Hilary, Kenny and Tyson to snicker at him. It was no secret that Rin was afraid of cats - due to an incident in his childhood with Kai that Rin refused to talk about but made Kai laugh - so he avoided the dojo since Aiko had been adopted.

"You're so weird, Rin," Hilary laughed, "Cats are so cute and fluffy, how are you so scared of them?"

"They're evil, deceitful creatures that are lulling you into a false sense of security," Rin answered with a slight pout, "You don't know a cat's true nature."

"But Aiko's a sweetheart." Kenny laughed. To have even Kenny laugh at you was pretty humiliating and Rin looked away from them, huffing. He was ignoring everyone until Kenny and Hilary made it home. At least, then, he had the curtesy to say goodbye before he, Tyson and Riku made their way to the dojo.

"I do hope that Takao is done in his studio. Ann was with him, discussing about the event she's going to organize." Riku wondered aloud before he nodded off without any preamble. Rin laughed affectionately before placing a gentle hand on Riku's head.

"Has your bad feeling gone, Tyson?" Rin asked as they headed closer to the dojo. Tyson shook his head and he could hear how worried Dragoon was thanks to their link. Rin frowned, "I trust gut instincts, Ty, and the fact that you feel something bad is a problem. We're going to have to be careful."

"Yeah." Tyson agreed before they made it to the dojo entrance. Riku muttered something in his sleep and Rin smiled, smoothing out some of Riku's stray hairs. The two paused in the entrance and they felt Night and Dragoon react just as they stepped into the Granger residence.

"Third Elder." Tyson recognized that presence from the moments he was in the presence of all the Elders. Third Elder's aura now was faint, flickering like a lit candle in the breeze. He shared a look with Rin and they rushed in, Rin leaving Riku close to the door that led into the Granger residence.

"Grandpa!" Tyson yelled as soon as they made it to the backyard. Grandpa Granger was on the ground holding an unconscious girl wearing a white kimono with long black hair. She was completely limp and her pale complexion making her look like a corpse. Tyson and Rin rushed to the two and they recognized the pale girl. She was none other than Third, if weaker looking.

"What happened, Grandpa?" Tyson asked as Rin held Third's frail looking hand. She wasn't breathing but it was most likely that she didn't need to. Tears were coming out of her eyes and that was not a good sign. She looked to be in so much pain, even as she slept.

"Grandpa?" Rin prodded, fearing the worst. He squeezed the Elder's hand, wanting any reaction from the all-knowing being.

"Tyson," Grandpa Granger said and a chill went down the dark-haired males. Grandpa Granger wasn't a serious man and he grew almost senile so calling Tyson by his name instead of something like "T-man" was frightening. He looked at both of them before turning to his grandson, "Third and Fifteenth, they talked about the war and the return of Erebus to this world."

 _Too soon,_ was Tyson's first thought. They had expected Erebus to arrive later from now, at a moment where they could be stronger. Panic surged, remembering Rikku and her powers as Ragnarok. They weren't prepared, weren't prepared for this upcoming battle. It was just like when Chaos and the Forsaken Fallen had begun their move. They were all assembled here yet, either. Why now?

"What else, Grandpa?" Rin asked, his voice soothing and, surprisingly, calm for the situation. Tyson wondered if the voice he was using was his own or Night's, especially since his eyes had turned lighter and were glowing.

"Kai." The old man paused, as if saying the name physically pained him. He looked down to look at Third Elder instead of looking at Tyson and Rin, "Erebus and Eden's Rapture attacked Kai and the others in Australia. They were outnumbered and unprepared. He killed him. Third saw it before she collapsed. Kai is dead."

Rin froze and Tyson's heart seemed to have stopped beating. Kai was dead? No way. There had to be a mistake. Kai couldn't have died. Tyson knew he wasn't dead. Kai was too tough to die . . . he had Dranzer with him too. He remembered the bad feeling he had gotten earlier, when he had felt some part of him disappear. It couldn't be that Kai had died, right?

"There's a mistake. Kai couldn't have died." Rin said, shaking his head. The glow of his eyes flickered as he slightly teared up, "Kai has gone through so much and he . . . he's not dead." He bit his lower lip, almost fighting back tears, "I don't believe it."

Tyson felt the same way. He wanted to keep on denying the possibility that Kai was dead. He felt the world around him was crumbling and he grabbed onto Rin's free hand to steady himself. When Rin squeezed his hand back, Tyson realized that Rin was trying to anchor himself too.

"I'm sorry." Grandpa Granger said, leaving the two boys that were close to the fallen blader to grieve. Surprisingly, neither of them cried, only looking hollow and shocked. It made the old man's heart ache seeing the two just spacing out, holding hands, while trying to cope with the news that Kai Hiwatari had fallen.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Above Pacific Ocean, Orikasa Private Jet, En Route to Bey City, Japan, Earth_

 _Half an Hour after Eden's Rapture's Attack in Australia_

Max was bored in the flight. It took a long while to get to Japan, after all, but he didn't have a lot of patience. He was lucky that Aya had let him use her jet to get back to Japan because airport security in America was a hustle. He leaned back on his seat, "This is boring already."

"You have to grin and bear it, Maxie," His mother responded. The mother-son duo was also travelling with the majority of the PPB All Starz - with the exception of Rick and Michael that were in South America and China, respectively - and Raul, Ian and Gary. The others were asleep, having been up when they had seen what had happened in Montana and not being to properly sleep until now.

"I know, Mom." Max answered. The two were in silence for a moment before Max's cell phone began to ring. The ringtone was the song he had put for Tyson - Comatose by Skillet because Tyson was big Skillet fan even though he denied it - so he answered it, "I'm not supposed to be answering but I'm doing it anyways. What's up?"

"Max, it's me, Rin."

Max frowned, "How come it's not Tyson?"

"I made him sit down in the couch with Grandpa." He heard Rin cough and sniff and he knew something was wrong immediately. He tensed, knowing that Rin Mizushima didn't _cry_. The guy could be close to tears but he wouldn't even make a sound. They made him watch a bunch of sad movies back to back but the closest they got to making him sad was him blinking rapidly so his tears wouldn't fall.

"Are you okay, Rin? What happened?" Max asked. Something about his tone must have alerted his mother that something was wrong because she looked at him with worried eyes and a questioning glance.

"We're not okay," Rin admitted and his voice _broke_ towards the end, "Erebus and Eden's Rapture are here. The Elders with the exception of Third are probably dead or on his side. We found Ragnarok and it's a twelve year old girl. And . . . Kai . . ." He coughed, "Max, Kai is dead."

Max almost dropped the phone as those news hit him hard, "Wha-What?" He cleared his throat, "You're not serious right?"

"I am completely serious, Maxie," Rin said, his voice almost trembling, "Third saw it. Tyson is in a bad shape. He . . . We aren't taking to the news well. I-."

"It's okay, Rin, it's okay," Max said and sniffed, a tear running down his cheek silently. His mother rose from her seat and enveloped him in his arms, "I'm already going to Japan. Just . . . we're going to be okay. You and Tyson stay safe and strong, okay?"

"Yes, we will." Rin answered, voice hoarse, "I gotta go. I need to tell the others too, Maxie. See you in Japan." The line went dead and Max sobbed, thinking that the cold phoenix blader he had met years ago and had become to befriend was dead. There had to be a mistake. This was a mistake, right?"

"It's okay, honey," His mother tried to soothe him, Max clutching onto her shirt harder. It hurt. If it hurt this bad for him, he couldn't imagine the pain Tyson must have been going through.

"It hurts," Max whisperd, "It hurts, Mom. He was my friend. Why did he have to die?"

When the first war began - the war between Eden's Rapture and the Forsaken Fallen - centuries ago, it had begun with the death of Sasha. When the second war began - the war between the holy spirits and the Forsaken Fallen - two years ago, it had officially begun with the death of Night.

It seemed that the death of his old team captain was the declaration of this war.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Hong Kong, China, Earth_

 _Forty-Five Minutes after Eden's Rapture's Attack in Australia_

Ray steadied the launcher on the young girl's hands, "You have to have it steady, Xia, if you want to get a good launch. You do want a good launch, right?"

The young Chinese girl with orange hair in twin ponytails and green eyes nodded, "Yes, Ray-gege." She launched her blade and it smoothly made its way to the dish, spinning elegantly. It was appropriate for a TK-prodigy, Ray supposed as she looked up at him for approval.

He nodded, "Nice work. Next thing we know, you'll be competing in the world tournament." She flushed, preening at his praise and Ray found it cute. She was only fifteen, he suposed, and fairly new to the sport of Beyblading. Hearing praise from him must mean something to her.

Ray had been here for three months with Lee, Kevin, Zeo, Michael and Enrique training the young kids here in the Chinese branch of the BBA and had taken the young girl under his wing immediately. Her older brother, Xiao, was being trained at the moment by Zeo.

"Ray-gege, they seem to be calling you over there," Xia pointed to somewhere behind him. Ray turned around to see Zeo was waving at him to come over. He could see his cell phone ringing in Zeo's hand and he knew that he had to go answer it.

"I'll be right back. Keep practicing, okay?" Ray said, patting the younger girl's back and making his way to where Zeo was. As soon as he reached the teal-haired blader, he tossed him his phone.

"It's Tyson." Zeo said without preamble. Ray saw that it was, seeing as a grinning Tyson was on display on his phone screen. He took the call immediately.

"Tyson, what's up? You don't usually call at this time-."

"Well, he's not. I am, Ray."

Ray paused for a moment at the voice he hadn't been expecting, "Rin?" This was shocking already. He stiffened, "Did something bad happen to Tyson? Is he hurt? Why are you using his cell phone?"

"Relax, Tyson's okay, to some extent," Rin answered, clearing his throat before continuing, "I'm using his cell phone because I didn't have mine close at hand."

"Why are you calling?" Ray asked. Zeo motioned for him to put it on speaker, Michael, Lee, Kevin and Enrique were already close at hand. Ray decided to switch it to speaker at that moment.

"The war has been declared." Rin said, "Erebus and Eden's Rapture are here and they attacked Australia. The Elders with the exception of Third are probably dead or on his side. And . . . Kai . . ." His voice broke, "Erebus killed him."

"What?!" Zeo gasped out, staring at all of them in shock. Lee mouthed something that looked like "Mariah" while he looked terrified. Ray felt the same way, his heart having skipped several beats.

Kai was dead? The guy that had survived a childhood in the Abbey, survived Lake Baikal, survived attacks from Zeus and Dragoon and lived through their battles against the Forsaken Fallen was dead? It couldn't be. Kai couldn't have died.

"I'm sorry." Rin cleared his throat once more and Ray realized he was trying to hold back from crying and sobbing, "I don't know in what condition Garland, Tala, Miguel and Mariah are in. They might be . . . Just come back to Japan. You . . . need to get back to Japan."

"Yeah," Ray said, his heart throat heavy as he tried hard not to cry.

"I'm going now. I still have to tell the others. Maxie is coming to Japan too. Please hurry." Rin sniffed before the line went dead. Ray almost dropped his phone because of how much he was trembling.

"What about Mariah?" Lee finally asked, eyes wide, "How is Mariah?"

"I don't know, Lee." Ray said, wiping a tear that had threatened to come out. He coughed, "Call Mr. Dickenson. We need transportation to get back to Japan."

 _Be strong, Tyson. We're coming back. Just be strong._

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Daichi's Village, Japan, Earth_

 _Fifty Minutes after Eden's Rapture's Attack in Australia_

Daichi was tending to the resting place of the Forsaken Fallen, Strata Dragoon close to him in his astral form. Daichi was humming, fixing the flowers in Night's resting place. Ever since the battle, many people - not just him and his friends - came to pay their respects to the holy beasts. This place just felt so calm and it made the saddest person smile.

"They're so happy," Strata Dragoon said in a joyful voice, jumping in the air before letting himself fall on his back, "I'm happy. Are you, Daichi?"

"Daichi, Daichi, the phone is ringing!" Saori called to her cousin. Daichi stood up to face his cousin.

Saori's hair had grown out her hair in the two years since the battle. Her hair had grown up to her knees - an impressive feat and Daichi wondered why it had grown so much - and was currently up in a high ponytail. He wondered if her head hurt. At the moment, she was wearing no shoes, ripped faded blue trousers that made it up to her ankles and a black tanktop. In her hands was the cell phone that the others had given to him so they can keep in contact.

"Thanks, Saori." Daichi said, his two-months-younger cousin finally passing him the phone. She grinned, waving at Strata Dragoon, before sitting down in front of Night's grave. Out of all of the villagers, Saori was the one that came here often, talking to Night about anything.

Daichi answered it, "Hello?"

"Daichi, you need to come back to Bey City." It was Rin's voice and it sounded so tense, as if Rin was holding back his emotions. Daichi frowned, turning to look at Saori and Strata Dragoon for a moment before speaking.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" He paused, "Is it Erebus?" From the corner of his eye, he saw his cousin stiffen at the name, her face filled with recognition. He briefly wondered why that was until Rin's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Yes. He has already declared war against us by attacking Australia."

Australia. Wasn't that where Kai, Tala, Garland, Mariah and Miguel were stationed at? Daichi clutched the phone tightly, "Did anyone die?" There was always a price in war, something Daichi knew well thanks to his own memories and those of Strata Dragoon's.

Rin sniffed, "Yes. We know of one casualty in the battle. . ." He trailed off and Daichi's heart plummeted. Rin wasn't close to Garland, Mariah, Miguel and Tala to be this badly affected if they died. That meant that the one who was killed was.

"Tell me it wasn't Kai."

Not Kai. Kai was an amazing fighter, almost as strong as Tyson or equal to him. Daichi looked up to him because of his strength and intelligence. He had been the one that had helped them move on after Night's death and had been their leader of sorts when they had been lost. He was a pillar for them and to hear that he was dead . . .

It was too much.

"I'm sorry, Daichi," Rin's voice trembled slightly, "The situation is going to get worse. Third is here and she's in a bad state. Almost all the Elders are either missing, exiled, captured or on Erebus's side. We need to regroup now, before . . ."

Before anyone else dies.

Daichi nodded, clearing his throat that was getting harder to use, "Okay. I'll bring Saori with me, too." Rin expressed his thanks and Daichi paused, "How is . . . Tyson?"

Tyson and Kai had been dating throughout this whole ordeal. They cared for each other - they'd never say out loud that they loved each other but their actions said that enough - so the news that Kai was dead must have been affecting Tyson greatly. Daichi didn't know if he'd be able to keep it together if he saw Tyson after this.

"He's not dealing well with this. Then again, who is?" Rin said, letting out a laugh that sounded dangerously close to a sob, "Just come back to Bey City, Daichi. Please. . ."

"I will. See you there."

The line went dead and Daichi placed a hand over his mouth as he sniffed. Saori looked at him with sorrowful eyes, as if she knew what had happened. She wrapped his arms around him and, moments later, Strata Dragoon did the same.

"We need to go to Bey City." Daichi said, almost sobbing, "Come on, Saori. You're coming with me." She nodded and he saw a tear come out of her eyes. Saori was such an empathic girl, Daichi thought to himself, ever since she was little. She couldn't stand to see people sad because that made her cry. He thought it was something weird yet endearing of his cousin.

"Yeah," Saori muttered, "let's go. They need you, right?"

If Rin's voice and his news over Tyson were anything to go by, then they really needed him to get back to Bey City as soon as possible.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Granger Dojo, Bey City, Japan, Earth_

 _Fifty-Seven Minutes after Eden's Rapture's Attack in Australia_

Rin hung up from his call with Daichi and wiped his tears before they could fall. He hoped Riku had finished his calls already because he was tired already and just wanted to lay down somewhere and forget what had happened today.

The raven-haired boy was currently in the dojo along with Third, who was laying down on a futon. She seemed to be in a stable condition - or so he hoped because he didn't know how an Elder's body worked - at the moment although she still appeared to be in pain.

Rin leaned on the wall and slid down, letting himself sit down. He drew in his knees and wrapped his arms around them, feeling himself being overwhelmed with emotions. He could be with Riku and Grandpa Granger - who had called Ann, Takao, Hilary, Kenny, Aya, Nami, Hikaru, Shun, Kaori and any other blader that was still in Bey City - and mourning Kai with them but he didn't have the heart to do it.

He never liked to cry in front of anyone. When he was little, he preferred to hide under the bed and cry to not bother his parents. His parents had eventually gotten that habit out of him by telling him that it would hurt less if he told people he was in pain.

The first person he had cried with - that wasn't his parents - was with Kai. The two of them had been five years old and Rin's pet fish had died. He had been attached to the little guy - Toris, he had named the fish - so he had been in tears when he had died. He had held the tears back when his parents had told him Toris had died but they had come out when he and Kai had been playing and the older boy had asked where Toris was.

Kai was the first person that saw when his tears began pouring and when they stopped. The boy - his older brother in his eyes - had just whispered how Toris was in a better place and would hate to see him cry. After that, they had become much closer friends and stayed like that until Rin broke off their friendship following the months he was with the Forsaken Fallen.

The other people besides Kai and his parents that had seen him cry was Hiro, Akatsuki, Alexander, Voltaire, Aya, Eden and, of course, Night. That wasn't a very big list and he intended to keep it that way. That's why he was hiding away from the others to grief, the only company being an unconscious omnipotent being.

He lowered his head, resting it on his drawn knees. He sniffed, the tears flowing down without any stop. Kai's death was one he had thought of with fear after he was selected as Dark Dranzer's tamer. Rin had feared killing Kai for so long, trying his hardest to keep his distance even though it hurt him.

After the battle with the Forsaken Fallen, though, he had thought Kai was safe from death's reach. Kai was strong - it was something he had believed in ever since he was four years old - and he had Dranzer. Eden's Rapture wouldn't even be able to lay a scratch on him when they attacked. Kai wouldn't die.

"You're such an idiot."

He was wrong.

Kai was gone. It seemed impossible to grasp but it was the truth. Kai was killed and he wasn't going to come back. It was just like when his parents died, he thought. He had promised on the grave of his parents that none of the people he cared for would die so long as he kept on breathing yet Kai was dead. He hadn't been able to save him.

"I'm so pathetic." He sobbed.

He heard the door sliding open and froze. He didn't look up, fearing who it was. He hoped it was Ann. He could hide the pain from her but, if it was anyone else, he knew he wouldn't be able to.

The person stood in front of him and sniffed, "Hey, Rin, why are you here by yourself?"

Rin looked up to see Tyson looking at him with a weak smile, tears flowing down his red-rimmed eyes. He wondered if he looked like that too. Tyson chuckled weakly, "Don't tell me that you miss him too . . ." He cut himself off as his shoulders trembled before continuing, "It's okay to say that, you know, and it's okay to let others know you're hurt."

"I'm fine," Rin answered, the lie he used so many times slipping through his lips without a second thought. He looked away, "You're the one that isn't. You're the one in pain because you loved Kai. I shouldn't be-."

"You and Kai were like brothers, Rin," Tyson cut him off, "Don't tell me that you're not hurt." He let out a sob, "Kai was somebody to everyone. A friend, a captain, a rival, a brother, a boyfriend. Everyone is justified to mourn him, Rin, especially you."

"No," Rin said and he felt his body betray him as more tears poured out, "The one that should mourn him the most is the person who loved him with all his heart, the person he loved. Tyson, you-." He cut off as he let out a sob, "It's not fair."

"No, it's not." Tyson agreed before Rin reached out to him. He took the younger male into his arms and the two let weak sobs escape. It hurt, the loss of the dual-haired male, but that was the price that came when you loved someone.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Twilight Castle, Fifteenth Dimension, 15th Universe_

Erebus smiled, holding the red crystal that had taken the life force out of Kai. He walked to a certain room, Persephone and Hypnos right behind him. He almost laughed as they stopped in the doorway. Here was the room where he kept the souls of the fallen Chaos tamers, where Thanatos was currently residing in. Persephone almost trembled at the collection but caught herself before revealing too much.

There had been twenty-eight Chaos tamers and, out of all of them, Erebus was only missing Haru, Tsubasa and Yudai. If he could complete that collection, he'd start collecting Tyson and the last living member of the Mizushima family. He'd probably try to collect Chaos himself if he could.

"With Kai's life force, we'll be able to breathe life in them once more." Erebus said, excited, "Combine that with the life force we have stolen from humans for the span of centuries and they might be virtually immortal."

"What are you waiting for?" Hypnos asked. Erebus nodded before tossing the crystal to Thanatos, who had been waiting in the room. He was holding a long-haired Chaos tamer that was dressed in a white kimono. He looked pained, as if the last moments of his life had been painful.

Thanatos took a wisp from Kai's life force stone and placed it on the chest of the boy. As the soul took in the life force, Erebus smiled, seeing him breathe softly, "It's working."

Thanatos nodded, "Just like Fifteenth said. We just need the life force from Suzaku's tamer." Erebus would have loved it if they had also stolen the life force of Natasha Borkov - tamer to Dark Dranzer - but Kai had to do. Susumu would be angry at him but he'd eventually forgive him. That's the way he was.

Thanatos took out a crystal - a dull one that only glowed briefly - and placed it inside the boy's chest where his heart should be. He gasped loudly and Erebus almost cheered, "Naoko, you're alive once more."

Naoko coughed harshly before opening his eyes, revealing the familiar red eyes Erebus had known for centuries since Chaos had them and had inherited that trait to his tamers. He looked around wildly at them before his eyes settled on Erebus. He glared, recognition setting in, "It's _you_."

"Do you remember everything, my dear?" Erebus asked the revived tamer. Naoko's response was kicking Thanatos hard enough to make the beast fall back in shock and in pain, taking one of the swords the holy beast kept by his side. Erebus sighed as Naoko moved farther away from the beasts, sword fully drawn, "Naoko, don't be unreasonable-."

"Shut your vile mouth, wretched _akuma_ ," Naoko hissed, glancing at everyone in the room, "You soiled my honor and rushed me to death's embrace. If that wasn't enough, you plagued others in my family with your miserable existence. A creature such as yourself is more of a nuisance than those damn Wolves of Mibu ever could be."

"Naoko dear, the Bakumatsu ended long ago." Erebus tried to approach the revived Japanese male, only for the sword to be directed at him. He paused, remembering all those that Naoko had slain with weapons that were inferior to the one he was using. He could actually kill them if he wanted to, "You don't have to be a _hitokiri_ , just like you wished. You can be a normal child, Naoko Kurokami."

At the glare he got, Erebus laughed, "Sorry. Should I call you Naoko Mizushima instead? You don't know how confusing it was when you decided to change the last name of your clan. I wonder why you decided on the name 'Mizushima' when Kurokami was more fitting for your beautiful, blessed family."

"We're a cursed family, we of the Kurokami clan," Naoko answered, glancing briefly at the other souls that rested in the embrace of death. He was no longer a soul, now having flesh, bones and blood, "None of us were able to grow old, dying before we could even reach the age of thirty. I could have lived longer had you not snuck into my room in the cover of darkness like the beast you are and assaulted me."

"Love, don't be so angry at me," Erebus pleaded and then felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down to see Naoko had plunged the sword deep into his stomach, having crossed the distance between them faster than he could have imagined.

The former _hitokiri_ then pulled the sword slightly out before slashing Erebus's stomach. If he had been a human, his internal organs would have spilled out and he'd have died almost instantly. His blood splattered onto Naoko's face and he was reminded why he had obsessed so much over Naoko Kurokami during those years of the Bakumatsu.

Naoko wasn't like any of the previous tamers of Chaos that had been peaceful and so unlike their partner. He had grown up in a war-torn Japan so, instead of rejecting his chaotic tendencies, he embraced them. He was one of the most perfect tamers of Chaos, placing value in chaos and destruction instead of order and creation. He didn't mind staining his hands with bright crimson blood. It was beautiful.

"Lord Erebus!" Persephone cried out while Hypnos launched his strings at Naoko. The boy growled at the strings that were around his neck, wrists, ankles and stomach, glaring at them in a way that was a lot like Chaos that it frightened them. The strings had at least made him drop the sword. An armed Naoko was a dangerous one, that was for sure.

"You're making me cross, Naoko." Erebus grunted out as he placed a hand on his wound. He made signs to Persephone to help heal him and the female beast nodded, heading over to him.

"Kill me and get it over with. I'd rather die than be some kind of conquest for your twisted mind, _akuma_. I'm a _hitokiri_ , not a concubine." Naoko said.

Erebus sighed, "Take him to his room, Hypnos, and make sure he gets cleaned." Naoko twisted around in his bonds, the thin strings cutting him so beads of blood came out from his neck, wrists and ankles. Erebus frowned, seeing the blood staining the white kimono Naoko wore, "Not so tightly, Hypnos. I didn't kill so many humans to revive him only for him to die thanks to the strings being so tight."

Naoko paused, going pale at that statement, "How many?" He struggled some more, "You bastard, how many people did you kill?! How many people did you kill for my sake?! How many people were worth the life of a killer like me?! Answer me!" He was dragged away, screaming curses at Erebus while demanding to know how many lives were lost in order to revive him.

"Continue with the revivals, Thanatos," Erebus hissed, Persephone whispering a slow spell that was slowly fixing his wound. He grinned, "This is something that I had been working for since Yudai's death. We'll be one step closer to completing my utopia."

All he needed now was to obtain Yudai, Tsubasa, Rin, Tyson and Chaos.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

Breathe.

Inhale. Exhale.

The gears stopped turning. The darkness was gone. Bright lights. Familiar lights. Were those stars? Were those souls? The afterlife? Home? They seemed to be constantly shifting.

Underwater.

Inhale. Exhale.

Breathe.

Death. Life.

The stars were so bright. If they were stars, that is. Souls were bright too. They were, right? Can't remember. Life. Death. Blurring lines between the two. A dance of the two. Memories of the past flicker.

 _Where am I?_

 _Irregular,_ a gentle voice of a young man pierced through the silence, the voice familiar and comforting yet strange and powerful, _do you remember your old name?_

 _Yes. But who are you?_

Death.

Breathe.

Inhale. Exhale.

Life.

 _I am the successor of Yggdrasil. I need you to help Tyson, his friends and our only living descendant. They'll need your help now, your support. All you need is your true name._

Cold. The stars and the moon, or souls of the afterlife, seemed to be covered in frost. Ice. Cold. Snow? The water froze? Why? Cold.

Death.

Breathe.

Inhale. Exhale.

Life.

 _Irregular, First Elder and I will wait for you to lead them back to the original place. You will help them awaken me. All you need is your true name._

 _Clockworker said I didn't need it._

 _Clockworker is right in some regards. To the universe, your old name doesn't matter but it does matter in this task._

 _How confusing._

Laughter. It was warm. Familiar. Soothing. Life could return with that laugh alone. Is that why this person was chosen as the successor of the World Tree?

Death.

Breathe.

Inhale. Exhale.

Life.

 _Tell me, Irregular, what is your old name?_

Darkness creeping in. Slipping. The stars were vanishing. Death. Breath. Inhale, exhale. Life.

 _Tsubasa._

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: I hope you got feels reading this. *sniffs* Have a good day/night.**

 **Died-Because-Of-A-Holy-Beast-War-But-Didn't-Deserve-To-Die Squad: Sasha, Night, Kai**

 **Notes:**

 ****Here we see Tyson, Max, Daichi, Ray, Third Elder and others being sad that Kai was murdered. Rin being sad (crying, trying not to cry, breaking voice, sobs and sniffs) hurts me the most, though.****

 ****If you don't know what the Bakumatsu is, it is a time period in Japan from the years 1853 - 1867. It was a revolutionary era that led to the Japan of today. However, it was a bloodied, war-torn era. The main battle was between the** _ **ishin shishi**_ **and the** _ **shinsengumi**_ **. The Shinsengumi are also known as the Wolves of Mibu, the nickname that Naoko gave them.****

 ****Naoko Kurokami the** _ **Hitokiri**_ **, 23rd Tamer of Chaos - Naoko lived from the years 1847 - 1866. A** _ **hitokiri**_ **is also an assassin so Naoko, despite being the son of a lord during this time period, killed the enemies of the** _ **Ishin Shishi**_ **in the shadows. The last name change that Erebus made a reference to is that, prior to the Bakumatsu, only the nobles had last names so the Kurokami clan had a last name. Naoko, however, proposed the clan change their ancestral name to 'Mizushima' in his deathbed and the family decided to honor his last wishes by changing their clan name.****

 ****The ending with Yggdrasil's successor and Irregular is meant to sound a bit disjointed and there are parts that are repeated and that has a purpose too. And we find out Irregular's true name (important to Yggdrasil but not to Clockworker). Where do you think he is?****

 ***If you want more TyKa, go on and read The-Dark-Whimsical-Witch's** _ **Tale of the Reincarnated Soul**_ **. I've been beta-reading her story for a while and you guys might enjoy it. It's like an Inuyasha AU. Give it a go if you have time, okay?***

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Once Upon A December**

 **Song: Once Upon A December by Masha Katz (Russian version)**


	8. Chapter 7: Once Upon A December

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me! Also, for Rapid P. Saiko's Birthday. Love ya, Third!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin, Ray x Max, Bryan x Tala**

 **Anime: Chapter 7 of Tears and Beginnings. We'll see Kai's funeral, some more on Naoko and where the hell Irregular is. Finally. Welp, go ahead and enjoy, guys!**

 _ **~~EDIH~~~**_

 **7: Once Upon A December**

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

Tyson felt hollow. The days leading up to Kai's funeral felt like dreams rather than reality. The others had come back to the dojo and offered their condolences to him. Max had bawled in his arms, wishing someone would tell them it was a sick joke. Tyson wanted to hear the same thing but everything became too real when they brought Kai's body from Australia.

Rin had to identify Kai's corpse - Tyson had to comfort him afterwards because Rin didn't want anyone else to see his tears - and that just solidified the fact that Kai really was dead.

Mariah, Tala, Garland and Miguel were alive but they blamed themselves for Kai's death. Lee and Ray were constantly trying to convince Mariah that she had done enough and that it wasn't her fault but she ignored them. She was always apologizing to Tyson, as if it was her fault that Kai was dead.

Bryan was constantly by Tala's side, soothing him, while Miguel hardly let anyone near him. Garland was constantly talking with the others, trying to not let the grief consume him but Brooklyn had told him that it pained Garland to the point where he would cry only at night when he thought no one could hear him.

Tyson didn't blame any of them for this. The only one that could be blamed for this was the person responsible for for all this mess. He'd never forgive Erebus. Chaos had hurt him but not like this so Tyson knew that the end result of the last war wouldn't be repeated.

Surprisingly, Voltaire had arrived to Bey City and Tyson had never seen the old man look so devastated. His only grandchild was dead and he sometimes pondered if Voltaire felt guilt for not being a better grandfather to Kai. If he was in Voltaire's shoes, he knows he would've.

The funeral was to happen today, three days after Kai's demise. Tyson was dressed in his best black suit, provided to him by Aya because he didn't own any suits. He hadn't gone to a funeral in years - the service they did for Night didn't count - so it felt weird dressing in so many dark colors. He fixed his black tie as Hiro entered the room. His older brother was dressed in black too, looking at Tyson with sad eyes, "Let's go, Tyson. The service started."

"Yeah, I'm on my way." Tyson muttered before they headed to the funeral home where the wake was going to be done. They arrived when there was a crowd there, familiar faces mixing in with the ocean of unfamiliar people. Tyson cleared his throat as he walked in, wiping his tears away. He wanted to be near Kai's coffin but he knew he wouldn't have the strength to do it. He wasn't strong enough.

The coffin was an open casket so you could see Kai's pale, lifeless body. Kenny had broken down in front of the coffin when he had seen their former captain and Hilary and Kaori were one of the first to attempt to comfort him.

No one had dared break the silence in the room after that, some people conversing softly in Russian or other languages Tyson didn't recognize but he supposed these people had known Kai. He heard pieces of the conversations but decided he didn't care enough to understand them. Kai was gone, his brain whispered. What was he to do now?

"It's okay, Ty," Aya whispered hoarsely to him, passing him a tissue. Tears were running softly down her cheeks but she was still holding herself firm. In private, though, she allowed herself time to properly grieve. This, however, was Kai's funeral so she had to keep up appearances as the future heir of Orikasa.

Tyson smiled at her, appreciating his brother's girlfriend's gesture. Aya nodded before she walked towards Hiro, the older Granger wrapping his arms around her trembling frame. She leaned into the embrace and Tyson wished he could do the same. He looked around the room, taking it all in.

Nami was talking with her parents in English in a secluded part of the funeral home, the girl occasionally sniffing while her parents comforted her. Nami's father wiped a tear from his daughter's face while Nami's mother openly wept.

The twins were walking around talking with the businessmen that had come to the funeral to pay their respects to the deceased Hiwatari heir. Shun was holding Hikaru's hand and he looked ready to burst into tears.

Ray was attempting to comfort Mariah. Mariah kept saying it was her fault - "I was too weak." - but all of the Chinese bladers were assuring her that it wasn't the case. Still, that didn't stop the tears in Mariah's eyes to stop dripping down.

Max was talking to Daichi and Saori, crying softly as the purple-haired cousin of Daichi tried to comfort him. Judy and Taro Tate were close by, talking with Grandpa Granger, Mr. Dickenson and Bruce Granger. His father turned to him, offering him a look that said he understood his pain. This was the pain his dad had felt when his mother had died, after all.

Tyson wanted to cry but found he couldn't. He hadn't been able to cry since the news broke out and he had cried with Rin. He just felt empty now, as if some part of his heart was gone and it hurt. He wanted Kai to come back. He wanted to see Kai alive again. He wished that Kai hadn't died.

If only Kai hadn't died . . .

 _"Apeuge halkwigo ganeun_

 _Nari seon baram sogedo_

 _Ham jum byeoti johaseo usna."_

Tyson looked up at the sound of a voice singing, breaking through the silence of the funeral home. It was soft and melodious, reminding him of long forgotten lullabies. He looked around and saw everyone else trying to look for the melancholic singing too. Aya wasn't searching so Tyson turned to the direction she was staring at.

Standing in front of Kai's coffin, singing this soft song, was none other than Rin.

 _"Bappeuge seuchigo ganeun_

 _Mujeonghan saram sogedo_

 _Ham jum beosi johaseo usna."_

Rin was standing next to Voltaire, of all people, gazing into the coffin where his childhood friend now lay. Tyson saw Voltaire had a hand on Rin's back, as if encouraging him to sing.

Some guests were quiet as Rin sang, understanding what the boy was singing while others looked on with confusion. Tyson wished to know what he was saying, as they were all somberly listening to Rin's song. Perhaps he'd ask him later what the song meant.

 _"Oeroum eobsneun goseul chajge doemyeon_

 _Nawa geu goseuro hamkke gadao."_

Rin's voice sounded louder in this completely silent room and they could hear the slight waver in his voice. He was struggling to keep on singing and he could see one of Rin's eyes was white. Night was giving him the strength to continue singing this song for Kai.

It was almost like before, Tyson thought suddenly. He remembered the day Kai talked about Night's death. The gentle beast had saved Kai's life but had ended his. Night had died singing to them a lullaby. It seemed so painful that Night - and his tamer Rin - were now singing a song of parting to the boy he had risked his immortal life for.

 _"Chingu chinguya_

 _Neodawo gomawo._

 _Chingu chinguya_

 _Neodawo gomawo."_

Rin's voice went soft and a single tear ran down his cheek. He placed a hand on Kai's coffin and his legs seemed to want to buckle. He wanted to fall down to his knees and mourn but he stayed strong. Not just for himself but for Kai as well.

Voltaire held onto him, whispering something and Aya let out a sob, Hiro attempting to comfort her. Tyson wanted to cry too, just seeing the display. He didn't understand the song but he could feel it was important to Rin and Kai.

 _"Amu mal eobsneun haneuri_

 _Eojewa dallaboyeodo_

 _Nugureul taltal suga itna."_

Max appeared next to Tyson and embraced him, Tyson returning the hug. Ray and Daichi appeared too and they were now part of a group hug. The small group that had grown to know Kai was silent, swaying softly to the beat of the song.

"It's Korean," Ray whispered as they swayed in their group hug, "I don't know what he's saying but I know it's Korean. He's singing for Kai in Korean, like he promised."

 _"Eojjeomyeon sesang moduga_

 _Museoun kkumeul kkuneunde_

 _Na honjaman ul suga itna."_

Tyson remembered what Ray was talking about. Before Ray, Max and Kai were sent away for three months, they had gone out for karaoke. It had been the four of them, Kenny, Hilary, Hiro, Aya, Rin, Takao, Grandpa Granger, Ann, Riku, Hikaru, Shun, Mariah, Lee, Nami, Kaori, Brooklyn, Tala, Bryan, Rick and Michael. They had been having a relaxing time until Rin and Kai had gotten competitive.

The two half-Russians had first started singing in Japanese before moving to Russian, followed by English, French, Cantonese and Mandarin. Before they could move on to the next language, the karaoke bar was closing.

"Next time, we sing in Korean and I'll win, _zhar-phtitsa_." Rin had promised his old friend but, the next week, Kai had gone to Australia where he stayed for three months. It seemed that he was finally fulfilling that promise.

Kenny appeared at that moment, tears going down his cheeks. He had even moved his hair back to reveal his red-rimmed light green eyes. Tyson and the others immediately brought him into the group hug as he sniffed.

 _"Doragago sipeun gosi isseossjiman_

 _Ijen nae baljagugmajeo nachseonde."_

The song was nearing its end. Max whispered something that sounded a lot like "Night's song was like this too" but Tyson wasn't sure. Ray embraced Max tightly, probably remembering that this scene was reminiscent to one that occurred two years ago.

If only they could go back through time to prevent this death. Would that have changed anything?

 _"Chingu chinguya_

 _Neodawo gomawo._

 _Chingu chinguya_

 _Neodawo gomawo._

 _Mmm~"_

After Rin's song, Voltaire asked them to lift Kai's coffin and to take it to the car. It was probably the hardest thing for Tyson to do and he knew it probably hurt Max, Ray and Daichi just as much.

Seeing the black box being lowered was just as painful to Tyson, who was silent throughout Kai's funeral. As people began to leave, he began to focus solely on the headstone.

The headstone was beautiful, depicting a winged male that looked vaguely like Kai. There was a feather in one of his outstretched hands and a beyblade was on his other hand that was limp by his side. It was actually a sculpture Takao had made recently of Dranzer, a sculpture he had planned on selling in one of Ann's charity events. He decided to use it for Kai's tombstone instead and it seemed fitting.

The grave was also for Dranzer since he was gone too. Eden's Rapture had crushed the bit-chip where he had resided before sealing the beast. Dragoon, Driger and Draciel had been hurt when they had lost their close friend and Tyson didn't blame them. They were mourning Kai, after all.

By the time Tyson looked up, almost everyone was gone. Max, Ray, Daichi, Kenny, Hilary, Saori, Aya, Hiro, Grandpa Granger, Bruce, Ann, Takao, Riku, Voltaire and Rin. They're all quiet, unable to say anything. Ann was patting Hilary's back, the brunette's soft sobbing making her shoulders tremble.

"How are you doing, Tyson?" Riku asked, looking up at Tyson.

"I don't think I'm fine, to be honest, Riku." Tyson replied. He sighed, "Now what do we do? It's not like we're going to be sitting ducks and wait for them to hit us."

"We'll find out a solid plan when we get home, okay?" Riku said.

"You're Tyson-sama, right?"

Tyson looked up to see it was a young boy no older than fifteen walking towards him. He was dressed in a red jacket, blue jeans, black shirt and had a black sports bag hanging from one of his shoulder. He had short dark purple hair, sky blue eyes and an olive complexion. He was vaguely familiar and, thanks to memories that weren't his, realized this boy looked a whole lot like Sasha.

"Just Tyson, really." Tyson answered as the boy walked towards him. He stopped in front of him and he offered a small smile before hugging him. Tyson paused, "Um, wha-?"

"It's so nice to meet my mom!" The boy said, smiling up at Tyson excitedly, "You're really pretty! I never would've guessed you would look this nice! I take more after you, huh?" He paused, "Oh, I forgot to mention who I am! I'm Nico Tsukino, Tyson-sama!"

Nico Tsukino.

This was the boy First had told him to watch out for. For what reason, Tyson had yet to find out. The fact that he looked a whole lot like Sasha was concerning and why was he calling Tyson his mother?

"Nico, why are you here?"

Nico hummed, "I got here because Kai-sensei told me to meet you. But these people in the airport rushed me to some BBA building and made me sleep there without telling me why. Some old guy was saying he'd introduce me to you after the funeral but I couldn't wait because Kai-sensei wanted me to give you something!"

The young boy had said that in what appeared to be one breath. All of them were frowning, as if trying to comprehend his words. Nico took out a familiar white scarf from inside his bag, "Kai-sensei will be home soon, okay? He really misses you because he loves you." He smiled and Tyson wondered why his vision was getting blurry. There was no rain yet he felt something wet run down his cheeks.

Nico placed the scarf in Tyson's hands, "Don't cry. He'll be back soon. He couldn't wait to see you again so you can be together back home." He stopped, "Say, why is everyone here? Why are you all so sad? Why does that tombstone look like-."

Tyson clutched the white scarf close to his chest and sobbed. Nico was taken aback and looked more confused as Tyson fell to his knees and began to cry. He missed Kai terribly, didn't he?

The scarf still smelled of Kai and the familiar scent of the deceased male just released more tears. Tyson felt arms around him and heard Ray whispering to him that everything was okay while Max cried along with him. Hilary and Kenny were crying nearby and Rin was holding one of his arms. Aya and Hiro were trying to calm him down but he could hear how pained Aya was. Saori was bawling nearby and he could have sworn that Voltaire was saying something to him.

At the moment, none of that mattered. Kai's scarf that reminded him so much of what he had lost was all he could see. He hiccuped, "Kai, why?"

Why did you have to die and leave all this pain behind?

Why?

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Twilight Castle, Fifteenth Dimension, 15th Universe_

Naoko didn't know what else to do. He had been trapped in this room for a long time and he pointedly ignored the elegant robes that Erebus, no doubt, wanted him to wear. He was still wearing the white yukata he had been wearing when he had been buried and he felt protected by it, giving him a tie somewhat to the real world.

People - no, beasts - came in to deliver him some food but he refused it. He wanted to die. It was a better option than becoming some sort of pet. He groaned, kicking the door once more, "Release me!"

No answer. Figures. He wanted to tear his hair out from frustration. He needed to do something. He sat down on the floor, leaning heavily on the brick wall. He hummed softly, wanting to just disappear. He had died centuries ago yet this life that he had now was one he stole from those that deserved to live.

He was a ruthless killer. He knew that. Ever since he picked up the sword when he was nine years old, he enjoyed the chaos and destruction he could unleash. He was a feared hitokiri, mercilessly killing those that opposed him. He had deserved his death for causing the death of so many before him.

"What shall I do now?" He whispered before he saw something in his peripheral vision. He glanced in that direction to see it but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. He sighed, looking forward only to see the object he had wanted to see.

A small light was glowing in front of him and he cupped it in his hands. It was warm, beautiful, and it made him smile slightly. This light relaxed him, oddly enough. He laughed, "Are you some sort of stress reliever?" The light bobbed up and down in his cupped hands and he held it close, "At least there's something to help me cope with this new world."

The light came closer to him, stopping close to his eyes. It didn't hurt him to gaze at it so he observed it. He saw the light back away and start bobbing up and down once more. He frowned, "Are you a spirit?" After some consideration, he continued, "Are you one of the souls that akuma used to bring me back to life?"

The light nodded up and down furiously and Naoko stood as it began to zip around the room. He held his head, "Was that a yes? Are you a spirit?" It made a nodding motion again and he immediately felt guilt, "I'm the reason you're like this, isn't it?"

The light moved side to side and Naoko rolled his eyes, "It's true. You were killed to bring me back." He looked at the robes Erebus wanted him to wear - they looked like the robes royal concubines used to wear and it sickened him - and he tossed them across the room, "I was brought back to warm the bed of a monster."

He'd always been prideful. He had been born the youngest son of the lord of Kurokami but he had been a young prince. His nobility and the training he had recieved from his sensei had just given him a huge sense of pride in himself. To lower himself down to be some demon's concubine was demeaning and disgusting. He'd rather cut off his right arm before submitting to the demon.

The light headed to the mirror and Naoko followed it, wondering what it was planning to do. The mirror was a full-length one and Naoko had wanted to smash it desperately when he had first seen it. He had seen it and hadn't recognized himself. He bore none of his old scars so it had taken him a while to understand that he looked the way his soul had appeared when he had died. The light was bumping against the mirror angrily and Naoko frowned, "What is it?"

It was just a mirror. What did the afterlight want with it? The afterlight floated down and began touching his hand. Naoko lifted it and the afterlight nodded before going to the mirror, bumping against it. Naoko sighed, "What? Do wish me to touch it?" At the afterlight's furious nodding, Naoko decided to comply.

The mirror's surface felt like water. He paused, shocked at the sensation, before the small afterlight headed towards the mirror once more. This, time, however, it entered the mirror. Naoko pulled back, almost as if someone had poured scalding water on his hand.

The reflection in the mirror changed. Naoko's eyes were a different shade of red and he gained more color in his skin. His hair jutted up in spikes and was dual-colored. His clothes stayed the same but the blood that Naoko's white yukata had was gone. This reflection wasn't his anymore.

"Who are you?"

The boy in the reflection began to write in kanji, struggling somewhat to write backwards. Naoko read what the boy was tracing as he did, "'I am First of Fire'. What does that mean?"

The boy wrote once more and Naoko read his words aloud as he did, "''I'm not really sure'? Could you not have just said that earlier?" The boy shrugged and Naoko sighed, "First of Fire, huh? That's a mouthful. I'm Kurokami Naoko. Well, I was. You can also call me Mizushima Naoko." First of Fire raised his eyebrows in confusion and Naoko rolled his eyes, "Or just Naoko. My clan name was changed and I can imagine how confusing it would be to call me one or the other."

First of Fire nodded before Naoko sat down in front of the mirror, "What do you require from me? There has to be a reason you appeared here before me, correct?" First of Fire began to write and Naoko read along, "'You need to return the stolen life force of the phoenix'. The life force of a phoenix? What phoenix?"

This time, First of Fire wrote a name.

KAI HIWATARI.

Naoko covered his mouth slowly, understanding now that the stolen life force was what had brought him back from the dead. He had stolen Kai Hiwatari's life force and now selfishly used it to live. Kai was dead now, wasn't he?

"It's my fault." He whispered and First of Fire shook his head. He began to write quickly, "'It is the fault of Erebus's greed. Don't blame yourself'. Well, as sweet as that is, I am living on stolen life force. So, what do I do about that?"

First of Fire smirked and began to write once more. Naoko read the message a few times in his head before reading it aloud, "'Return the life force to its owner. Help awaken Irregular from its slumber so it can help awaken Yggdrasil. Help them defeat Erebus'. Who's them?"

First of Fire only touched his heart and smiled. Naoko watched him before placing his hand over his chest where his heart would be. The heartbeat he felt disturbed him because he had felt it slow down seconds before he had died. This heart was not beating for his sake. It was beating because it was fed the life force of innocent people. Innocent people like Kai Hiwatari.

He felt his heart thump loudly in his chest and he gasped. First of Fire smiled and mouthed something Naoko didn't catch as he fell to his side in pain. His heart was beating erratically and he gasped for breath, reaching out for anyone that could help him.

He saw people flash through his mind, along with emotions that weren't his. Names he didn't recognize belonged to people he didn't recognize. He tried to scream but all that came out was a death rattle that might have terrified anyone close by.

 _Who are you?_

Wake up.

 _Wake up._

 _ **Wake up!**_

Naoko saw a navy-haired boy with a bright smile and shining auburn eyes looking down at him. He mouthed something and outstretched his hand, Naoko taking it. He felt warmth and knew this unfamiliar person was someone close to Kai Hiwatari, someone he loved and couldn't forget, even as he was dying. Was this the last thought Kai had before his life force was completely stolen?

"Ty . . . son." Naoko croaked out before he began to fade in and out of consciousness. He could hear someone crying in his mind and wondered if it was the boy he had seen. He glanced at the mirror to see First of Fire was gone, replaced by the image of Kai's special person crying, holding onto a white scarf.

Naoko made his way to the mirror, "Don't . . . cr. . . cry. Tyson, don't-." He didn't want him to cry. He placed his hand on the mirror and felt only the cool surface. A song overwhelmed his senses. He had heard it before, hadn't he?

"Ty . . . son." Naoko gasped out, "I'll . . . be waiting for . . ." His hand slipped away from the mirror and the black haired boy passed out in front of the mirror. The mirror shimmered, dissolving the image of Tyson and revealing First of Fire. The boy smiled before he shifted his image to that of a young man of twenty-five that looked a lot like Naoko.

"Thank you," He said, crouching down to the passed out male, "You awakened the piece of Kai's heart that you contain. The gears are turning on their intended schedule and you even accelerated Irregular's awakening. Tyson and the others will be grateful." He took out a pocket watch from his coat, "Time to get going. Time is ticking and we don't have all the time in the world. Bye, Naoko."

The male disappeared and the mirror began to reflect as was its job. Currently, it was reflecting the unmoving figure of a boy who contained a piece of another.

Somewhere, Clockworker laughed, as the gears were moving once more. He grinned, watching the main reality of Earth. Things were going to get more interesting to Tyson. How fun that would be, the sadist thought.

"Have fun."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

In the Granger dojo, in the small pond where Third had appeared, a young man was under the surface. His eyes - a bright red that were identical to Chaos's - were wide open, staring at the night sky. He made no move to get up for air and no movement was made when the pond began to freeze.

The boy only closed his eyes, letting out a small glow. He was ready for his awakening. Irregular was just waiting for anyone to bring him to this world. He was ready for Tyson.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: I hope you got more feels reading this. And HYPE because Irregular is finally part of the game, First of Fire appears but it's actually Clockworker(?) and . . . ahh! You'll see what happens next chapter, I guess. Bye bye!**

 **~Squads~**

 **Died-Because-Of-A-Curse-But-Didn't-Deserve-To-Die Squad: Daisuke, Chaos Tamers**

 **Died-Because-Holy-Beasts-Are-Assholes Squad: Tsubasa, Haru, Natasha, the children, Servants of Mizushima, Daisuke, Sasha, Night, Naoko, Kai**

 **Did-Nothing-Wrong Squad: Tyson, Tsubasa, Yudai, Night, Third Elder, Max, etc.**

 **Did-A-Lot-Of-Things-Wrong Squad: Chaos, Erebus, Forsaken Fallen, Eden's Rapture**

 **Notes:**

 ****Rin's Song: I had several options for singing when it comes to Rin. The guy knows so many languages! Russian, Japanese, French, English, German, Korean, Hindu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, etc., so I had to pick the right one to make this scene work. Here were my options:**

 ***Option 1: Once Upon a December by Masha Katz from** _ **Anastasia**_ **(Russian).**

 ***Option 2: Will Be Back by Lim Sun Hae from** _ **Moon Lovers**_ **(Korean).**

 ***Option 3: Lilium by Kumiko Noma from** _ **Elfen Lied**_ **(Latin).**

 ***Option 4: My Dear Friend (Thank You For Being You) by IU from** _ **Moon Lovers**_ **(Korean)**

 ****In the end, Option 4 won since it was significantly sadder and would help with the tears. Not only that, Witch said that it was the best option for a song Rin was dedicating to Kai. I think it did the job. The original choice was Once Upon a December but that was before I heard My Dear Friend. Which song do you think would have been the best option?****

 ****Rough translation of My Dear Friend (Thank You For Being You):**

 **It hurts me**

 **as it blows past**

 **But the one small ray of sun makes me smile**

 **Everyone is so busy**

 **They get on with their lives**

 **But that one friend makes me smile**

 **When I find a place where loneliness does not exist**

 **Join me there, my friend, come with me**

 **My dear friend**

 **Thank you for being you**

 **My dear friend**

 **Thank you for being you**

 **Although the silent sky**

 **seems different from yesterday**

 **How can you blame anyone?**

 **Maybe everyone in the world**

 **Has nightmares**

 **How can I cry by myself?**

 **There's a place I wanted to return to**

 **Now even my footprints seem unfamiliar to me**

 **My dear friend**

 **Thank you for being you**

 **My dear friend**

 **Thank you for being you**

 **Mmm~****

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: One Reason**

 **Song: One Reason by AmaLee**


	9. Chapter 8: One Reason

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin, Ray x Max, Bryan x Tala**

 **Anime: Chapter 8 of . . . I'm not sure. This chapter explains some things, thanks to a certain Elder (probably my favorite Elder and that's not because I'm sucking up to RPS. 3rd is fun to write). Finally, explanations! To the chapter!**

 _ **~~EDIH~~~**_

 **8: One Reason**

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth_

After the funeral, Tyson felt physically drained and fell asleep, not caring that it was barely six. Everyone let him sleep while Rin had to explain the situation to Nico. Apparently, no one had told him the news so now he was crying on the roof. How he got on the roof was anyone's guess. It was Rin's problem at the moment, though, Tyson thought before he slipped away into his dreams.

Whenever Tyson ever had dreams, they weren't the "normal" kind that people had. His dreams were memories. Not his memories, but the memories of the people he had been connected to during those days two years ago. Memories of Rin, memories of Dragoon, memories of Night and memories of Chaos. Most of the time, he saw the memory from their point of view and felt their emotions during that moment. It was rare when he had dreams and he saw the memory as if it was a scene from a movie.

He was used to those dreams.

This dream, however, was not from the memories of Dragoon, Rin, Night or Chaos.

He was running through a forest, panting and his heart pounding rapidly on his chest. He was barefoot and he could feel the foliage of the forest scraping against his face and legs. The ground was littered with sharp rocks, fallen leaves and fallen needles that stabbed his feet every so often but he kept running. He was wearing a loose light-blue yukata that kept trying to slip off his shoulders that made it difficult to run.

"Help!" He screamed and his voice was hoarse as if he had been deprived of water or had been using his voice too much, "Help me, please! Someone, anyone, please help me!" He wanted to cry, his heart pounding faster and faster. Where was everyone?

A soft breeze moved the trees and he felt some relief when he spotted a road close by. There was a road marker that was written in bold Japanese that announced the Second World War, much to Tyson's surprise. The sign was calling for more soldiers to serve the emperor or to supply the war front.

He began to run faster, knowing that the road signaled that civilization was nearby. He choked and his vision became blurry with tears. He was going to be okay, after all! All he had to do was make it to the road and try to find someone to help him-.

The sound of a twig snapping made his heart skip a beat. He could hear loud footsteps behind him and he began to run faster, trying to get away from his pursuer, even though he wasn't sure who it was. He almost tripped over the root of a tree but that didn't stop him from running.

"Help!" He screamed, now closer to the road. He felt someone grab his wrist and he stumbled. He struggled against the person that held him captive as he felt that person pull his hair, "Stop it! Let go of me-."

Something cold suddenly pressed against his neck and dragged across it.

Tyson stopped struggling to look down, seeing blood – his blood – drip down. He could feel his blood gathering inside his neck and he could feel himself choking. Fear seized his heart – _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._ – and he went limp in the hands of the person that had inflicted this lethal blow.

"I'm sorry, my love," The voice said as they wrapped their arms around Tyson's waist and began to lower them to the ground. He felt a cold hand touch his cheek gently and he felt disgust at that action, "but if you refuse me, I'm afraid I had to do this. You left me no choice, my darling. Please forgive me. I love you so much."

Tyson couldn't breathe. His pounding heart was beating so slowly. The warm blood from his neck kept dripping down and he felt new tears slide down his cheek as he bemoaned his fate. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to die.

He hated this person. This person that killed his mother and his friends then had kidnapped him. This person had tried to rape him while he professed his love for him. He hated this man that was the cause of this.

"I love you."

Tyson felt himself straining to crane his neck to look at his attacker once more. He was a young man with long white hair and black eyes with too pale skin. _Erebus_ , he thought with a jolt. Tyson then glared before he began to speak, even as his life began to fade away.

"I'll . . . always . . . hate you."

Then his world turned black and he woke up screaming. The first thing he did was touch his neck and almost cried in relief when he didn't feel any blood or gash. He heard footsteps and Ray came into his room, followed closely by Tala and Rick, "Tyson, what happened?"

"Erebus killed me." Tyson whispered, remembering his pain, fear, disgust and desperation. They weren't his emotions but that just made it scarier to him because someone had experienced that.

"What?" Rick asked before Ray sat down in his bed. He could see his friend looking at him and he wondered if the fear from his dream was visible. Ray sighed, "You're not dead, Tyson. You're still here."

"Yeah," Tyson nodded, "I'm still here."

Ray nodded before grabbing his hand, "What did you see?"

"I was someone else, someone running in a forest I didn't recognize. It was during World War II and Erebus was chasing me. He caught up with me and he slit my throat and I died in his arms. I felt myself die-."

"It wasn't you, Tyson."

"But it was someone, Ray. Someone was killed in that horrible way." Tyson said, touching his neck in rememberance. He gulped, "Why was he killed in that way after suffering through so much?"

"We can think about that later," Tala said, much more gentler than he usually spoke. Perhaps he was still mellow over the events of today. He started to leave, "Third woke up. She wants to talk to us."

"Okay. I'm on my way." Tyson said, leaving the comfort of his bed and following the three males out of his room to go into the dojo. It had become the home of so many of them ever since Eden's Rapture's attack in Australia.

Third was looking less like the corpse she had appeared to be about three days ago. She had regained some color and looked like her usual self. She was dressed in a simple black dress with long sleeves and cut off at her ankles. She was beautiful, even in this weakened state of hers.

"Hello, Third." Tyson greeted. She offered him a smile before patting the seat next to her. Ray groaned and sat next to her and she practically beamed, Riku laughing softly next to her.

She wasn't trying to play favorites but Tyson knew that, out of all the Elders, Third viewed the beasts she created as her children. The tamers of her children were, by extension, her grandchildren and her favorite child had been Byakko, who had split and become Driger and Dark Driger, the holy beasts of Ray and Riku. It wasn't a shock to see her being so close to Ray and Riku.

"Hi, Tyson." She turned serious, "My condolences over Kai. If things hadn't happened the way they did, he and you would be cuddling somewhere obnoxiously, making a lot of people jealous."

Tyson touched his neck, "It's okay, Third. It wasn't your fault. It was Erebus's. That's something we can all agree on."

Max nodded, "What is it that you wanted to tell us?"

"Since the ancient rules of Elder neutrality are being overruled, I'll stop being cryptic and tell you guys everything straight up. To cut to the chase, shit hit the fan when Yggdrasil began to wilt." Third answered honestly.

"Yggdrasil is wilting?!" Max gasped out and they all felt the distress of their beasts at the news. Max ran a hand through his hair, "That isn't good. Without Yggdrasil, the worlds will die and so will the Elders. Nothing will survive."

"I'm glad you understand the situation, Max," Third nodded, frowning, "That started happening about six months ago. We were in a panic until First stepped up and decided to fix the problem. She put me in charge, gave me some instructions and disappeared. As of now, she's still missing."

First Elder, the eldest and wisest of the beings created from Yggdrasil's life, was missing. Tyson knew that the universes and realities were practically screwed. From Dragoon and Chaos's memories, he knew that a lot of things had been solved easily with the wise girl - a girl who looked so lonely yet had such a beautiful smile - around. Without her around, it was no surprise that things were the way they were.

"Two months into her disappearance, Yggdrasil was still dying so I decided to meet up with Clockworker and discover what was going on."

"Who the hell is Clockworker?" Bryan asked, the question a lot of them were wondering as well.

"A sadistic asshole who thinks that genocide is the best source of entertainment," Third said with disgust in her tone that she didn't even try to mask, "He was a fail safe born after Chaos from Yggdrasil and is in charge of making sure everything is going according to Yggdrasil's plans. We don't get to see him much, just First, and I think that's great. However, I needed answers and I was desperate.

"Of course, we had some disputes since he was insistent on showing me some of his favorite catastrophes but, in the end, I managed to get him to tell me what was happening to Yggdrasil." She paused and then they saw how her fist clenched, "And it was all Fifteenth's fault."

Tyson remembered Fifteenth Elder as the only Elder that wished for Seventeenth to be killed rather than exiled. His memories of Chaos might have given him a bias over the elder but Tyson disliked him. Those feelings grew immediately.

No one said anything, mulling over Third's information. Seeing as no one was speaking, the ancient one continued, "Fifteenth had been stealing life from the World Tree, making himself stronger and helping Eden's Rapture at the same time. Knowing he couldn't go on like this, Yggdrasil began to let himself die."

"Why?" Ray whispered, so soft they could've missed it if they hadn't all been silent, eyes on the one that could help them understand the situation they were currently in.

"Yggdrasil chose a successor to take his place, of course," Third said. Before anyone could say anything, she continued, "His successor would restore life to the worlds by becoming the core of the World Tree so Yggdrasil decided dying was better since he already had someone in reserve. The problem was that his successor had been dead for centuries."

"Are you serious?"

"Can you even do that?"

Third shook her head, "No, you can't. That's what confused me until I asked Clockworker how it was possible. The thing was, the soul of his successor had never reached the land beyond the stars so he was still eligble to take Yggdrasil's place. With horror, I found out that the soul was in the hands of none other than Erebus himself."

"You can't be serious!" Emily cried out, "So the one who can restore life is in enemy hands?"

"Was, anyways," Third said with a smirk, "I told Clockworker to rescue him and, knowing that bastard, he did it with ease. Hopefully, anyways. To get back to the point, it surprised me that Erebus had survived when I had seen Chaos murder him in the First Holy Beast War. The only way we could've been deceived was if an Elder had helped Eden's Rapture fake their deaths or help them survive the war. And there was only one culprit that fit that bill."

"Fifteenth Elder, who hates Seventeenth and all her creations that include Chaos." Tyson agreed and Third nodded in agreement. Tyson frowned, "He would do anything to get at both of them, even if it meant keeping those dangerous beasts alive."

"He kept them alive for centuries, the bastard," Third hissed with anger, "Hid them right here on Earth by removing their powers and making them live as mortals. And we _overlooked_ them." She sounded so mad at herself, as if failing to notice one person out of the billions in the world was her responsibility. None of them said anything but Riku placed a comforting hand on hers.

"When I returned to the Chamber of Elders to warn the others, it was too late. Fifteenth had overtaken them and he, Erebus and the rest attacked me. I was badly wounded but I managed to escape. I laid low in the branches of Yggdrasil, occasionally escaping to other universes and realities before being found. I discovered that Erebus planned to attack this main reality so I rushed here only to discover that Erebus was already attacking in Australia and I was too late." She groaned, "I don't have much information over his next move."

"Erebus said he had Susumu Hiwatari hostage," Tala said suddenly, as if he just remembered, "Is that true?"

Third nodded her head slowly, "Erebus had a link to Susumu Hiwatari and Haru Mizushima when he disguised himself as Eren Karbowski, another piece of information given to me by Clockworker. I don't know what he plans for Susumu or why he decided to kill Kai of all people."

"Maybe to kill our morale?" Nami suggested.

"If that were the case," Rin inserted, eyebrows furrowed as he placed a hand under his chin, "he wouldn't have gone and attacked Kai. If he wanted to kill our morale, he would've killed Tyson."

Rin glanced at the three-time World Champion, who looked at him in shock, "Tyson is our de-facto leader and no one can deny that. His kidnapping motivated us to start fighting the Forsaken Fallen, his return helped give us hope after Night's death, he led us through the Second Holy Beast War and he defeated Chaos. If I was an enemy, I would get Tyson out of the picture but Erebus didn't. He must have a reason for it."

"That's true." Kenny agreed, "We know that Erebus is insane so maybe there is no reason for killing Kai other than wanting to kill." Kenny looked up to face Rin, "But that would be too easy. Erebus might be insane but he is smart. He's been avoiding the Elders for centuries, planning things through so they can go well. He has something to gain with Kai's death and I think I found some reasons as to why he did it.

"One, he is trying to kill morale, like Nami suggested. However, he's not doing it to kill everyone's morale because, like Rin said, he would have gone after Tyson instead. I think he's only trying to weaken Tyson, knowing that Kai is Tyson's weakness and his death would hurt Tyson.

"Two, he is trying to get Dranzer out of the picture. Dranzer is one of the strongest holy beast there is and he's never alone. With Dragoon, Driger and Draciel, Dranzer could wreak havoc. They were able to seal Chaos and we know that Erebus isn't a big a threat in power as him. So he had to get rid of one of the beasts.

"Three, he's doing it to get some satisfaction over the Forsaken Fallen. He hates the Forsaken Fallen, with the exception being Chaos, and he knows they tried hard to kill Kai. Wouldn't you be happy if you were able to do something your rival could?

"Fourth, he might be doing it for Night."

They all jolted at that and Tyson saw Rin's eyes turn white for a brief moment. The first to recover was Third, "Doing it for Night? Night wouldn't condone the death of any mortal and, based on Eden's Rapture's actions, they don't care. Why would you think that, Kenny?"

Kenny fixed his glasses, "Well, we were all affected one way or another by his death and, out of all of us, the closest ones to Night were Chaos and his other half Erebus. Erebus must have felt Night's death the moment it happened or he must have seen it. Now, to someone like Erebus, he'll put the blame on someone.

"He couldn't place the blame on Chaos since he is obsessed with him and he wouldn't blame Night. He put the blame on the person Night risked his life to save and that was none other than Kai."

"You should become an investigator, Kenny," Kaori praised and Kenny flushed at the praise. Kaori sighed, "These could all be the reasons why Erebus killed Kai or he could've not had a motive. At the moment, what I want to know is the importance of the people First told Tyson about." This was directed at Third Elder, who glanced at Tyson before looking at Kaori again.

"You're talking about Eden Rivers, Riliane, Tsubasa Mizushima, Yudai, Nico Tsukino, Saori Ogata, Rikku Yamamoto and Aria Umezawa, right?" Third leaned back on the wall, "First told me about them before she disappeared too. I take it you guys know about most of them."

"You mean Rikku is the apocalypse personified?" Aya said, "We know some things about that. We found Eden, Nico, Saori, Rikku and Aria but not Riliane, Tsubasa and Yudai."

"Well then, you're mostly caught up." Third replied, "Rikku is Ragnarok so she must be kept away from Erebus at all costs. I'm not sure why Eden and Saori are important but you guys have already guessed as to why Aria and Nico are important, right?"

"They look a lot like Sasha." Hilary said, "The girl that began this story."

"At first, I wasn't sure if they were," Third agreed, "Sasha's soul was split into two by Erebus so she could never reincarnate. He hated her that much, dooming her to never achieve peace even after death. It wasn't until twenty years ago that her split soul decided to become two different people and be reborn into this world, something they successfully did fifteen years ago."

"Is that even possible?" Garland questioned.

"Sasha's split soul was older than most nations and had lived in a world of magic. It had become powerful enough to be manifested into this world, giving birth to a boy of light and a girl of dark: Nico Tsukino and Aria Umezawa.

"Those two have always appeared as they are now since their birth fifteen years ago. They travelled the world together, looking for their purpose before the two were seperated and we assumed that they had died. Turns out, they're still alive, found in Italy and in Australia as corpses that came back from the dead."

"And what is their purpose?" Bryan questioned, remembering the lost eyes of a girl who had been presumed dead before she had started breathing and moving. Aria Umezawa, a girl that was just the half of a person who had been ruthlessly murdered.

"Their purpose is to help kill Erebus when the final time comes." Third said with a smirk, "After all, that was the wish Sasha made as he killed her. It was only fitting that the incarnations of her split soul would only have that purpose."

"What if they complete their purpose? Will they just vanish?" Brooklyn asked. To Tyson, that would seem like a sad existence. They were born only to kill. They had life yet they hadn't tried anything to make it mean something. All they wanted was to kill the person that had killed them.

"Yudai Kurokami is Yggdrasil's successor that I was talking about. I don't know much about Tsubasa Mizushima, though-."

"He's my great grandfather's brother." Rin cut in and they all turned to him in shock. He cleared his throat, "I remember him from my family records so I looked him up again. He disappeared in 1939 and was never found, presumed dead. He was sixteen years old."

"Disappeared?" Tyson asked before his mind flashed to his dream, "Do you think he was killed?"

"Possibly," Rin said before running a hand through his hair, "It was a dark period for the Mizushima clan. Tsubasa's mother had been found dead in his doorway, my great grandfather and my great-great grandfather were in the warfront and several people with connections to Tsubasa were found murdered. Shortly after the death of his mother, he went missing. People thought he had run away. It was a theory that was quickly dismissed, considering his windows and bedroom door had been locked. He didn't take any of his belongings and none of the staff saw him leave. He just vanished."

 _He hated this person. This person that killed his mother and his friends then had kidnapped him. This person had tried to rape him while he professed his love for him. He hated this man that was the cause of this._

Once again, the dream came back to Tyson and he placed his hand on his neck. The thoughts in his dream, when he had been witnessing the memory of someone else, went well with the information of Tsubasa. He remembered the sign talking about World War II and Tsubasa had disappeared 1939. Had he witnessed Tsubasa's death?

Tsubasa Mizushima, age sixteen, had his neck sliced open and died by choking on his own blood. The death was horrific, caused by the mad beast that killed his mother and friends. Erebus had murdered Tsubasa Mizushima. Why? Why had he targeted Tsubasa?

 _. . . Tick tock, tick tock, the song keeps on changing_

Tyson looked around at the voice and he noticed that Third's eyes widened in shock. Max touched one of his ears and Ray frowned. Kenny whispered something to Hilary, the brunettes looking confused.

 _I imprisoned the malice, the cage of reality_

 _Malice corrupts, what will be my purpose?_

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

 _If you can't judge malice, can I judge it?_

"Is everyone hearing that?" Zeo finally asked and they all stood, Ray carrying Riku as they began to get out of the dojo and headed in the direction where Grandpa Granger had found Third Elder.

 _Will you destroy this sinful heart of mine?_

 _Sinful, cursed hands that desire the death of others,_

 _Are they sinful if they have commited no crimes?_

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

Tyson led them to the outside and they were a shocked at the light coming from the pond. Third frowned, "Now, that isn't supposed to happen. Why is it frozen ice? It's still not winter." Now that she mentioned it, they could see the pond was frozen solid.

Tyson stepped forward, "This is impossible, isn't it?" He got closer and he could see someone's silhoutte. He stopped and kneeled down to see a boy younger than him sleeping under the surface of the ice. A boy that looked so much like Rin with his pale skin. He was dressed in a white yukata and Tyson wondered if he was freezing in those clothes.

 _Gears of the tower are turning faster_

 _We've strayed from the right path_

 _Can we turn back time?_

 _Tick tock, tick tock._

 _The resounding beat of the never-ending clock._

 _Tick tock, tick tock._

 _The resounding beat of the lonely heart._

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

 _Irregular's song changes once more._

Tyson placed his hand on the surface where the boy's face was. Underneath him, the ice was so cold and he began to feel his hand numbing. He cleared his throat, "Irregular?" He noticed that the boy's eyes underneath his closed lids moved and one of his hands twitched. He shook his head, "No, Tsubasa?"

 _Will you wake up now, Irregular?_

 _Will you live, Tsubasa?_

Tsubasa's eyes opened, revealing eyes that were too familiar. The same eyes that Tsubasa had were the ones Tyson had seen on Chaos. The ice melted at an alarming rate and the poor boy gasped for breath. Tyson pulled him out of the water and the younger (?) male coughed, trembling in his arms as he was drenched in cold water.

"Are you okay?" Tyson asked before spotting a scar on Tsubasa's neck, confirming what he had believed over seeing this boy's death.

"I have seen better days," Tsubasa said and he sounded like Chaos too. He looked at Tyson, "A-Are you an angel? Am I finally out of hell?" He smiled before going limp in Tyson's arms, falling asleep once more. By this time, the others had approached them.

"Clockworker, you sly bastard." Third muttered and she swore she heard the sadist laughing somewhere. She looked down at the boy that had died seventy-seven years and felt only sorrow, "Why didn't you tell me that more of that cursed family were chosen?"

What were they going to do now?

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Twilight Castle, Fifteenth Dimension, 15th Universe_

"Please, I want to go home. My wife and daughter are waiting for me at home," One of Chaos's tamers cried out, holding onto Erebus's robes while he was trying to lock the boy in one of the rooms he had prepared, "I'll come back just please let me see them. My dear daughter, I need to see her. She's so weak and frail. She needs me." The young man was in tears and Erebus hated it.

"My lovely Asa, you know that whore of a wife of yours is dead. I made sure of that." He said, placing a hand on Asa's cheek, smiling at him while Asa just sobbed, "And your daughter died after giving birth, too. You don't need to see them if they're dead, love."

"At least let me visit their graves, then," Asa said, falling to his knees, "I beg of you, let me see my family."

Erebus grabbed his arm harshly, yanking the twenty-four year old up on his feet, seething as he spoke, "Asa, don't think I'm not angry that you married some wench and created a child out of that disgusting union."

At the terrified eyes that he was met with, Erebus softened and sighed, running his fingers through the boy's long black hair, "I understand that you were forced to marry her, though, so I don't blame you. You never betrayed me. You never could."

Asa Kurokami was a loyal young man who loved with all his gentle heart. He loved Erebus and must have been disgusted by the bitch that had been married to him. The slut had given birth to a child that eventually married into the Kumai family. Erebus hadn't cared about the child, seeing as she looked more like her bitch of a mother than her beautiful father. None of the other tamers but Haru Mizushima had been able to produce heirs so Asa was special and Erebus knew it.

"No, I loved my wife," Asa whispered, avoiding eye contact and his voice soft, "She loved me and we loved our daughter. Don't call her such vile names in my presence." Asa looked at him at last with a glare, "My dear Emiko and our beloved Hana will not be disrespected while I am here."

Erebus slapped the young man harshly, making him fall to the ground. He glared down at him, "Don't even dare call her name. Sasha, Emiko, Natasha, they're all bitches that tried to steal you away! You belong to me!"

Asa almost whimpered at the rage in the beast's eyes and cried out when Erebus crouched next to him and grabbed him by his raven locks, "I brought you back from the dead, Asa Kurokami. You should show that love and loyalty to me, not to that dead bitch. Oh, how I enjoyed ripping out her eyes from her skull."

"You're a murderer!" Asa screamed. He thrashed against Erebus, hissing when his hair was pulled. He continued screaming and thrashing even as Erebus slung him over his shoulder, "Release me! You're disgusting! I want to see my Emiko!"

"Enough!" Erebus shot back, throwing the male onto the bed, "You belong to me now. Do I have to remind you?" Just as he started making his way onto the bed, Morpheus opened the door with panic evident in his face. While he was godsend to Asa, Erebus glared at him, "Can you not see I'm busy?"

"Keep it in your pants, my lord," Morpheus said, glancing at the scene before him before bowing, "It's just that Lord Naoko has collapsed and he's not breathing."

All thoughts about punishing Asa for his insolence vanished and Erebus rushed out of the room to see Naoko. He passed the rooms of several other of his tamers but, judging by the thumps on the door and voices coming from the rooms, they were fine. But what happened to Naoko?

Erebus was shocked when he found Naoko in his room, sprawled on the floor in front of the mirror. He kneeled and took the young man into his arms, shaking him, "Naoko dearest, wake up."

No reaction. Erebus picked him up gently bridal style and laid him softly on the bed. He searched for any injuries but found none. There seemed to be no reason for his sudden collapse. So what had happened to him? He kissed his forehead, "Naoko, love, please wake up. I need to see you awake and alive. You're one of the reasons why I've done this much."

The main reason for bringing the Chaos tamers back from the dead was for his sweet, gentle husband that so many of them emulated. A secondary reason was because so many of them were like Chaos as well. Yudai and Chaos, the ones that made him start down this sinful path.

"Naoko, wake up." He pleaded, running a hand through the boy's long hair. Following Naoko's generation, the tamers began to have shorter hair and Erebus thought that was a pity. With their long hair, they reminded him of the old times when he and the others first came to this disgusting world.

There was a knock on the door and Persephone entered the room, "Erebus, how are you?"

"All of them hate me." Erebus answered, "They wish they had stayed dead. Asa had the audacity to ask me about his wife and daughter. Naoko stabbed me. Shiro tried to bite my ear off. Hajime demanded to see his fiance and, when I said no, he attempted to slit my throat with a fragment of his mirror that he broke."

"It's okay, Erebus," Persephone assured him, placing her head on his shoulder, "They'll grow to understand your love. We'll find Tsubasa and Yudai and bring you Tyson and Rin. How does that sound?"

"Like a dream, Persephone," He replied and brushed Naoko's stray hairs away from his face, "My utopia will come to fruition. Soon, very soon." He stood, "Let's go to Earth. We need to start the plan."

"Understood."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

Kai coughed, leaning on a nearby home. His sword was stained with so much blood and his comrades were talking about how he had made it rain blood in the battlefield once more. He was too brutal, he knew that, but it was for the sake of a new country. His bloodstained hands would continue this rampage, even if his whole body smelled of blood and carnage. He was going to make a better future for his clan.

"Lord Kurokami, are you alright?"

Kai turned around, coughing lightly and he let go of the house that he was using to support himself, "Takahashi, stop following me. I am well enough to continue my activities. Inform my father and mother on the events you just witnessed, not on my health."

"Lord Kurokami, I beg you." Takahashi kneeled down in front of him, shadows covering his features from view. The world was spinning but he gripped his sword tightly in order to continue standing, "Your illness will only worsen at this rate. It is the same illness that plagued Lord Kane Kurokami, who died a month after his birth."

"It is a curse we cannot stop. Despite this, I will continue on my path as I've clearly chosen." Kai answered. He paused, looking at himself in the mirror and wondered why his reflection looked so different. His hair was different and he couldn't understand why.

"You will die."

"We will all die at one point, Takahashi," Kai said before he began to walk, "I must attack the Shinsengumi now. I know their location. I need to inform the others-." The world spun and Kai felt himself fall. Takahashi yelled for him and Kai reached for his sword. He couldn't die, could he? Not here.

This wasn't how he had died.

Kai Hiwatari had his life force stolen. He didn't succumb to a disease and he had never wielded a sword before. This memory was not his own. It was that of Naoko Kurokami-Mizushima, the _hitokiri_ that served during the Bakumatsu.

"I will live," Kai whispered, "I will live."

Naoko's last week of life, something that was constantly replaying in his heart, was something Kai hoped never to experience again, even though he knew that it was a wish that could not be granted.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: Tsubasa (Irregular) is here, Third explains some parts of the plot, Erebus is such a creep and why the hell is Kai back and relieving Naoko's last week of life? More in Chapter 9! Let's hope I can update it soon!**

 **Notes:**

 ****Sorry to Tyson for that death memory of Tsubasa. It seemed necessary in order to introduce Irregular. The reason why Tyson had that dream was to give him the ability to awaken Irregular.****

 ****Clockworker: I'm not that sadistic. I just think some things that aren't meant to be funny are funny. Anime: Shut up. This is my corner.****

 ****Kenny is such a little genius. Again, he's one of my favorite Beyblade characters so I like putting him in fics as the genius he is.****

 ****Inside joke with RPS dealing with the relationship between Elders, holy beats/bit-beasts and tamers. She considers Driger and Dark Driger her children so she loves Riku and Ray a lot. Such a good grandmother.****

 ****Aria and Nico as the halves of Sasha. I hope that was obvious.****

 ****Inspiration for Irregular's Song: The Song I Heard Somewhere, Capriccio Farce, Handbeat Clocktower. All of them from the Evillous Chronicles by akuno-P/mothy using the Vocaloids****

 ****Erebus is a bad, delusional rapist that needs to be stopped****

 ****Kai is inside Naoko's heart and living through what he went through before his death. So, in a way, Kai is still alive and well. Even if his physical body isn't. How nice, huh?****

 ****Tsubasa Mizushima the Irregular, 27th Tamer of Chaos - Tsubasa lived from the years 1923 - 1939, the youngest of the Chaos tamers at the age of 16. He lived through the depression and the start of WWII. He was the son of a wealthy and successful general in Japan but didn't sign up for the war for being too weak and frail. He was kidnapped and killed by Erebus.****

 ****Asa Kurokami the Husband, 17th Tamer of Chaos - Asa lived from the years 1742 - 1766, one of the eldest of the fallen Chaos tamers at the age of 24. He was also the first of the Chaos tamers to marry and have a child, the only other one that can boast that is Haru. He is not a fighter like Naoko.****

 ****Shiro Mizushima the Watcher, 26th Tamer of Chaos - Shiro lived from the years 1904 - 1922 so, like Tsubasa, he lived through a World War but it was a war that Japan wasn't involved with much. That doesn't mean he wasn't a tough cookie, though. Shiro died at the age of 18.****

 ****Hajime Kurokami the Fiance, 10th Tamer of Chaos - Hajime lived from the years 1606 - 1630 and was one of the few of the Chaos tamers that was to get married. He didn't get to marry, however, so the honor of the first of the Chaos tamers to get married and have a child is Asa. He died at the age of 24, much like Asa.****

 ****Kane Kurokami the Stillborn, 22nd Tamer of Chaos - Kane didn't even get to live a month before dying. He only lived in the year 1847, his mother having suffered an accident during her pregnancy that damaged him greatly. If he had lived, he would have died at the age of 18. His soul looks that age and, yes, Erebus does have his soul.****

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Tomorrow**

 **Song: Tomorrow by BTS**


	10. Chapter 9: Tomorrow

**Rating: T+**

 **Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.**

 **Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.**

 **Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!**

 **Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin, Ray x Max, Bryan x Tala**

 **Anime: I gave up on this story a while back because I was trying to work on other works. I never knew when I was going to come back. However, I got such a positive reception in Wattpad (gasp!) with MIAB that I decided to continue EDIH, despite how confusing it might become cause things are crazy here. This chapter will try to explain the madness.**

 **Previously on EDIH: Eden's Rapture has declared war on the bladers after Kai Hiwatari is murdered for his life force, reviving many of Chaos' tamers. Third Elder explains the situation of Yggdrasil, the betrayal of Fifteenth Elder and all are shocked when Irregular makes an appearance as the long-dead Tsubasa Mizushima, 27th tamer of Chaos. Meanwhile, Kai relives the strife-filled life of Naoko Kurokami/Mizushima, a hitokiri from the Revolution.**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **9: Tomorrow**

 _Granger Dojo, Bey City, Japan, Earth, Main Dimension_

 _September 30_

"What exactly is Irregular, Third Elder?" Tyson asked, Tsubasa resting on his lap. The younger male wasn't shivering from the cold anymore but he was still slightly wet. Rin was staring at him as if he had seen a ghost and Tyson didn't blame him. This sixteen year old boy was Rin's great-great grand uncle that had died seventy-seven years ago. Tyson placed a hand on Tsubasa's neck and was relieved to feel a pulse but frightened because he could feel the scar on his neck.

"Irregular was a myth, supposedly," Third replied, "Clockworker and First always talked about how the balance would one day tip if Chaos were to ever go on a rampage. We need Chaos just as much as he needs us but what if one of the two sides was out of commission? The balance would be disrupted and the worlds would be doomed."

"I guess that's where Irregular comes in." Ray said.

Third nodded, frowning, "Irregular helps restore the balance if it ever tips and, let's face it, the balance is in a shitty condition. Only First, Seventeen, Fifteen and myself are probably lucid at the moment and keeping the worlds from falling and Chaos is having a relaxing time in exile so he's not doing much destruction. No wonder Clockworker decided to look for Irregular. The question is why is Irregular Tsubasa Mizushima?"

"Why's that? Something wrong with that?" Aya asked and Tyson was glad that someone did. Rin grabbed Tsubasa's hand and frowned, as if reminding himself that he wasn't an illusion.

"Tsubasa Mizushima is someone we indirectly hurt." Third said. At their silence, Third continued, "In the first years of the holy beasts being in this world, there lived a boy named Shuichi. He was called a demon child and hated for being different. One day, Chaos came across him and saw himself in that boy. He blessed the boy with his power, an act of kindness we had been confused over.

"After Chaos's sealing, he cursed your ancestor," This was directed at Daichi, who merely clenched his blade tightly in his fist, "Daisuke to death. Daisuke was what you could call a prophet, I suppose, and we were angry that we lost him." Third paused, looking at Tsubasa with sorrowful eyes, "We didn't think what our actions would cause."

"What did you do?" Tyson whispered, almost afraid of what was to come.

"We decided to curse Shuichi, the child that Chaos had shown care for. But it went beyond that. We laid a curse on his descendants, knowing that one of them would end up becoming a tamer to Chaos. For generations, nothing happened until _he_ was born."

"Who?"

"Yudai Kurokami." Third answered and they all recognized the name of the successor of the World Tree, "The second son of a lord, he was born in the year 1348 and he was practically identical to Chaos from head to toe. However, he was a sweet child, not engaging in any form of violence, and we wondered how the curse was going to play out. We didn't bother checking what happened to him until it was too late."

She sniffed, wiping a stray tear, "The curse manifests early in life. It weakens the host so they are sickly and weak since the moment they are born. At any point of life, they are struck by an incurable illness that begins to shut down all the organs in the body and motor functions are practically gone. It's a slow, agonizing death, more painful than the death Chaos wished upon Daisuke, and that was the end of Yudai Kurokami. He was only twenty-one at the time of his death."

"Oh no," Hilary whispered. Tyson trembled, thinking about how tragically Yudai had died. If he had died at the age of twenty-one in that manner, Tyson knew he would've been so scared and angry at life for his fate.

"We didn't think that there would be more tamers of Chaos after Yudai, really," Third said, half in tears, "Imagine our surprise that another is born twenty-five years after Yudai, a boy that dies at the age of eighteen. I wanted the curse to end but Fifteen insisted we keep the curse open so Chaos can never have a link to the human world. How foolish we were to continue. Dammit, Asa had a wife and daughter that he left behind when the curse took him! Hajime was going to get married to the love of his life and Kane was a stillborn."

Max recognized those names, names that had been carved in the bodies of teenagers in Montana. He keep his silence, watching Third tremble as guilt overtook her.

"There weren't supposed to be so many Chaos tamers," Third said, "Dragoon only had one prior to Tyson, Dranzer had three before Kai, Draciel two before Max and Driger only had six true tamers before reaching Ray. Yet, from Yudai's age to now, there have been twenty-eight. Only two of them didn't die of the curse and those two are Tsubasa and Haru Mizushima."

"My father?" Rin asked, looking at Third in shock and what could only be terror, "My father was a Chaos tamer?"

"Twenty-eighth and the only one that ever met Chaos in person." Third said with a nod, "The curse was going to consume him when he turned twenty-nine."

"You're telling me that my father would have still died, with or without the help of the Forsaken Fallen?" Rin squeezed Tsubasa's limp hand, "I would always lose him. I just don't know what death I would have preferred: the bloodied death that Dark Driger caused or the slow, agonizing one that the curse of the Elders would have caused."

"You're telling me that Rin's family is cursed?" Brooklyn said before looking at Rin, "I'm not letting you get married and have kids in case one of them ends up being a Chaos tamer."

"I'm not going to have kids. I'll just end this damned lineage anyways-." Rin gasped sharply before turning Kaori, "A Mizushima married into your family. Has anyone in your family-?"

Kaori shook her head, "Unless we get married and revive your family, my lineage is secure." She pointed at her red eye, "I guess I can finally understand why some members of my family have red eyes or violet eyes."

Tsubasa stirred in his spot in Tyson's lap before opening his eyes. He looked at Tyson in confusion, "Are you Ryoichi-san? Ryoichi Granger?"

"Um, no. I'm Tyson Granger." Tyson answered, Tsubasa's piercing gaze analyzing him from head to toe before blinking. He sat up and looked around, looking more confused.

"How long have I been out?" He asked and smiled, "Wait, did you rescue me from that demon? Thank you so much. I thought I died but I guess I didn't." He bowed at Tyson and the navy-haired boy was caught off-guard on the other boy's politeness. Then again, Tsubasa was from the 1930s.

"Tsubasa, do you know where I am?" Third asked.

Tsubasa nodded, "The Granger dojo. Ryoichi-san always brought me here after school so he could show off his kendo skills." He looked around with curiousity, "It looks slightly different from how it looked a week ago. How long was I out?"

"Seventy-seven years." Rin said. When Tsubasa turned to him in shock, Rin bowed, "I'm Rin Mizushima, your great grand nephew."

Tsubasa's eyes widened, "What? What year is it?"

"2016. Right?" Third said, looking at them for confirmation. They understood why she was confused - the passage of time was different for the Elders, after all - but at least she got the year right.

"Already?" Tsubasa said with a gasp, "Did we win the war?"

Tyson wasn't sure whether or not he should start a crash course on history for Tsubasa's case before Third sighed, "We can talk about the end of the war later. Do you remember that demon you talked about?"

"Ugh," Tsubasa furrowed his brow, "The guy with the silver hair and black eyes? Did you kill him when you saved my life. He was my lifelong stalker, you-." He paused, feeling the scar on his neck and going paler. He looked at them in horror, "Hey, what's this scar? Why do I . . . ?"

Tyson placed his own hand in his neck, remembering the way Tsubasa had died. Tsubasa looked at him, "Tyson, did I die? Was I killed?"

"Sorry."

Tsubasa's face fell and wrapped his hands around his neck, drawing himself into a small ball. Tyson knew he'd probably react that same way, or even worse, if he found out he had been dead for seventy-seven years. He looked up at Rin, "My father and my brother are probably ashes now, huh? And my nephew, too."

"Grandfather died before I was born. I didn't know him." Rin answered, holding Tsubasa's trembling hand, "My father spoke well of him. He was a good man."

"So, where is my grand nephew, your father?" Tsubasa asked, tilting his head to the side and Rin looked away. Tsubasa smiled softly, "Does he look like my brother? I know his hair is black but what about his eyes? Purple? Blue? Red?"

"My father had red eyes, like you." Rin replied before sighing, "He died about twelve years ago. I'm the current heir of our family." Tsubasa sighed, squeezing Rin's hand as if to reassure him. Rin shook his head, "I'm fine. It was a long time ago."

"What about the Grangers?" Tsubasa turned to Tyson, "Is the Granger line secure? What about the Hiwataris? Mikhail and his brothers left a descendancy behind, right?"

"Well, Me, Hiro, Bruce and Ryu Granger are alive," Tyson said before wincing, "Kai, the youngest Hiwatari, died three days ago but Voltaire is still alive."

"I was dead for that long?" Tsubasa sighed, "Perhaps I should've just stayed dead. Especially if that awful demon is still out there ruining my family. Our family." He smiled at Rin, "Well, it is nice to see another Mizushima running around. Although, I think I need to catch up in what is going on. None of you look very familiar to me."

"Long story short: you're Tsubasa and you're not Tsubasa." Third answered,

Tsubasa hummed, "You sound like Clockworker and Yggdrasil's successor. A bit confusing but I understand, don't worry. I know I'm not the old me anymore. I am the being known as Irregular." His eyes glowed at his admission, surrounded by an aura that made them all shudder because, despite looking so human, Tsubasa didn't feel like a human. He didn't feel like a beast, either. He felt like an Elder.

"Glad you understand that." Third said, unfazed by the aura Tsubasa had, "Now, you know that Erebus, the demon that killed you, is obsessed with you. We've discovered that you are Irregular so he will want to possess you with more ferocity than ever. You'll have to fight during this Third Holy Beast War."

"I will not let any of you down." Tsubasa inclined his head and his inhuman aura vanished, "So, mind filling me in?"

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Twilight Castle, Fifteenth Dimension, 15th Universe_

"He still hasn't awakened?" Erebus asked, sitting on his dark throne. Morpheus had entered the room, the child-like beast looking grim. He shook his head and Erebus cursed, "Naoko, why won't you awaken?"

"I tried to see his dream but I could not enter. It was as if something wasn't allowing me to delve inside." Morpheus reported to Erebus and the rest of Eden's Rapture. He sighed, "A presence stronger than a Beast's is hindering my mission. I apologize."

"You don't need to, Morpheus." Fifteenth Elder said, standing by the window and seeing the weakened roots of Yggdrasil, "It cannot be Third, not in her weakened state, and it cannot be the banished Seventeenth. The only option would be First but. . ." He trailed off, looking pensive.

"Something you wish to tell us, Fifteenth Elder?" Nike asked, running a hand through Eris's hair. The other girl didn't seem to mind, too interested in what Fifteenth Elder had to say.

"First has completely vanished." Fifteenth said, "I cannot find a trace of her, as if she is dead or was reabsorbed into Yggdrasil. Unless she used our last resort, First is dead to the world."

Erebus made an annoyed noise, turning to Hypnos and his team, "How long will it take to secure the successor of Yggdrasil?"

"The successor is nowhere to be found so it may take us a while to find him. Worse case scenario, he's inside Yggdrasil's core, a place none of us, not even Fifteenth Elder, can enter." Hypnos said.

"What a tough situation we're in." Phobus and Deimos commented, wearing matching faces of annoyance, "If we had First Elder, we'd be able to enter the core. She is the only Elder that can, right?"

"Fifteenth Elder, about that last resort you Elders have," Juno began.

"The last resort is to become a mortal of sorts." Fifteenth said, "It was something Seventeenth enjoyed doing, going by the name 'Lizbeth' very often. First would only do such a thing if she was desperate."

"Isn't she?" Erebus asked, looking outside the sky, "I don't know about you but there's a very dire situation going on. She would be desperate. So, are you saying that she incarnated and become a mortal?"

"I don't want to believe that the honorable First Elder would do such a thing but I cannot rule it out." Fifteenth replied. He hummed, creating a bubble and seeing Seventeenth staring back at him. He could even hear her before making it vanish.

"First order of business, then," Erebus said, his eyes glinting with glee, "Return to Earth and locate First Elder. If you happen to find Tsubasa, my dear Yudai, Rin or Tyson, bring them here. Although, I have a plan in obtaining them."

"My lord, my team and I shall search for First," Persephone bowed, the rest of the members of the Sun Team doing the same. Erebus nodded and they vanished, immersed in darkness. Erebus was about to speak but there was a sudden pain in his chest. He hissed, grasping his chest.

"Lord Erebus?" Hypnos asked, the others tentively attempting to help him. He waved away their concerns, breathing heavily. It was an annoyance but that pain must be coming from that thing he had discarded decades ago. Why was it giving him trouble again?"

"Foolish heart, why do you continue to hinder me?" Erebus wondered, the briefest of whispers. Hypnos didn't know how to comfort his foolish leader. What manner of beast, after all, ripped out their heart and sent it away to no longer be plagued with guilt and sorrow?

"You're a fool, that's why."

Everyone froze in their spots, except Fifteenth, Erebus and the speaker: Juno. No one talked to Erebus in that way and managed to come out unscathed. The only exceptions had been Night, Chaos and possibly Kurokami Yudai. Everyone else was a fool to cross Erebus.

"What did you say, Juno?" Erebus sprouted a black tendril from his back, an imitation of his wings that they never saw these days. The ugly thing wrapped itself around Juno's neck and dangled her in the air. Erebus narrowed his eyes at her, "Mind repeating your previous statement?"

"Of course. You're a fool," Juno didn't flinch as she was slammed into the wall or when the tendril wrapped itself more tightly around her neck. Instead, she continued to speak, "Your first mistake was not dying alongside your husband like you had planned. Your second mistake was obsessing yourself over the rest of the Chaos tamers. Your third mistake was murdering Tsubasa and speeding up the process of Irregular's awakening. Your fourth and final mistake was discarding your heart and believing that it would not come to life."

"What?!" Erebus was livid, tightening the grip of the tendril around Juno's neck before she was dragged towards him, "Do you want to have your neck snapped, third-rate beast?" No matter how much he tightened the tendril around Juno's fragile neck, she would never feel pain. That's what Erebus hated about her.

There were three types of beasts that the Elders created. There were the first-rate, a class that only consisted of Chaos as he was so powerful and perfect that he was the unofficial Eighteenth Elder.

The second-rate beasts began with Erebus and Night, all of them the perfect examples of beasts. Seiryu, Suzaku, Byakko, Genbu, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Gaea, Ouranos, Tartarus, Persephone, Hypnos, Morpheus, Nike, Artemis and several others were part of this class.

Then came the third-rate beasts that all lacked something or were weaker than the others. Hecate, Nemesis, Gaia Dragoon, Dizzara and Juno were some, to name a few. These beasts were created half-heartedly or were created thanks to a holy beast. Hecate, creation of Third Elder, lacked the ability to properly feel emotions due to a falling out Third had with Fifteenth, Hecate's other creator. Gaia Dragoon was created by Fourteenth and Gaea, who had wanted a companion.

Juno, created by the Fifteenth Elder, lack any form of emotion. She knew how to simulate emotions but never felt anything, similar to Hecate. While Hecate eventually learned some emotions thanks to Chaos and Third, Juno decided to only pretend to feel something when she didn't. It was something Erebus hated and envied.

"Release her." Fifteenth said sharply, "You know she's right."

Juno smirked, "He knows I am right. That's why he's angry." Erebus scoffed and finally released her. Juno landed on her feet, unfazed yet looking slightly ruffled. She coughed, "Everything about beasts is filled with life, especially their hearts. Releasing your heart was a foolish mistake. It probably gained life and is living with the humans."

"Juno is also correct in the case of Irregular," Fifteenth stated, "The requirements to be an Irregular is to have been born due to a shift in the stars. Tsubasa Mizushima was born prematurely at eight months to Shiho Akimura and Ritsu Mizushima, or so I thought. Looking back, Ritsu and his father Rin Kaage were not aware that Shiho Akimura was killed and replaced by a Korean woman named by Min Eunmi. That was something that none of us had ever realized but it was something that allowed Eunmi and Ritsu's children to be Irregulars. The second requirement to be an Irregular is to have your life cut short, just like Tsubasa's was thanks to you and your ability to shift the stars."

"The way you say Irregulars is as if there have been multiple. Have there been previous Irregulars?" Hypnos questioned.

"Yes. Unlike Tsubasa, the previous Irregulars didn't awaken as they weren't needed. Sasha, Shuichi, Rima, Daisuke, Ryoichi, Lee Byeol, Hua Lien and Tsubasa Mizushima are the most notable ones." Fifteenth created images of the previous Irregulars he had mentioned, Erebus practically growling at the image of Sasha.

Fifteenth smiled at his anger, "Sasha became two, spawning two Irregulars you've met recently, Nico and Aria. Shuichi and Rima started the Kurokami line, creating various semi-Irregulars and the Irregular Tsubasa. Daisuke became one with Gaia Dragoon and they became Strata Dragoon. Ryoichi was the official start of the Granger line. Byeol helped birth the tamers of Dranzer, Lien tamed the fierce Driger, allowing generations of Wongs to possess him, before marrying into the Kon family. Now, Tsubasa is the official Irregular, the one we had never hoped to meet." He laughed, as if it was some kind of joke, "Things are so fun now with Irregular, Clockworker and Yggdrasil's successor. Even the possible mortal First Elder sounds laughable."

"Mad Elder." Erebus scoffed, almost disgusted.

Erebus began to leave, finally having enough. Fifteenth saw him leave and gave a cruel smirk, no one knowing what someone like him could be thinking. After all, who thought of the apocalypse as a way to alleviate boredom?

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

Kai coughed as Takahashi replaced his bandages. He was still stuck inside Naoko's memories, going through the final days of the hitokiri. Today was the last day. He could feel it in his heavy bones, in his burdened heart. Despite the debilitating illness, Naoko had continued his duties as an assassin until last night. Now he was mortally wounded and slowly dying of his mysterious illness.

"My lord, all shall be well soon. You shall return to your full strength and fight as you have always done in the Revolution." Takahashi said. Kai turned to look at his - Naoko's - servant. Takahashi was a male of at least twenty-one that looked a whole lot like Hiro with Tyson's dark blue hair.

Seeing someone who looked so much like Tyson fussing over him and caring for him made him feel nostalgic. He turned to look outside his room, where he could see several trees. There were no cherry blossoms, to Kai's disappointment. He sighed, "I wanted to see them again, one last time."

"Pardon?"

"Cherry blossoms." Kai elaborated, "Spring was always my favorite season out of all, especially when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Sitting underneath a cherry blossom tree while they were in bloom, doing nothing but admiring their beauty . . . it was such a wonderful experience. I regret taking it for granted."

"S-Stop speaking like that, my lord! You will recover-."

"Takahashi. Your family has served my family for generations well. I owe my gratitude to you and your clan, for staying by my side despite my turn from young lord to killer." Kai looked up at the cieling, "I want to show my gratitude."

"M-My lord-."

"Granger. Granger Takahashi." Kai smiled, "It is a Western name but I am fond of it. It sounds like a grand clan name, no matter what others will respond to it. The Granger and Mizushima clans."

"Mizushima?" Takahashi questioned.

"Kurokami," Kai spoke, even though he was just as confused as Takahashi was. Naoko's words spilled out without Kai having any control over himself, "is written with the characters of 'black' and 'god'. It is a dark name that shows my dark lineage."

"Dark lineage? What do you mean, my lo-."

"Takahashi, when it is only us, you have no need to be so formal." Kai said. He stretched his hand to entwine it with the other male's. Takahashi lifted their joined hands and Kai was surprised when he placed a kiss on his cold hands. Were Takahashi and Naoko lovers? Kai - no, Naoko - smiled, "I prefer it when we are in solitude like this and we can be 'Takahashi' and 'Naoko', not the loyal servant and the bloody young lord."

"Naoko, what did you mean by that? Dark lineage?"

Kai's smile melted, "Of course. How can I forget? Pardon my forgetfulness, Taka-kun." He coughed before continuing, "The founders of the Kurokami clan were said to be a demon and a witch. Their names were Kurokami Shuichi and Rima. Rima was born into this world due to the magic of a goddess from a tree while Shuichi was created by a god. They possessed skills normal people are incapable of replicating. With their power, they gained prestige and followers until they were given lordships. When asked for a clan name, they both agreed on Kurokami due to their supposed magical births."

"D-Do you believe that they were born that way, Naoko?"

Honestly, Kai wanted that questioned answered to. A girl born from a tree thanks to the magic of a holy beast and a boy created by a holy beast? That sounded impossible, even if he knew a lot about impossible things. After all, he was a dead man living through the memories of a resurrected male from the Bakumatsu.

Kai picked up his free hand and then the world seemed to turn black and cold. The energy was practically overwhelming. Takahashi's grip on his hand tightened before that brief display of power ended. He looked down at Kai, "What was that?"

"Darkness." Kai answered, even though he felt terrified because it wasn't any darkness. It was the darkness associated with Chaos, "Ever since I was young, I have always preferred the darkness to light. I crave destruction and chaos, Takahashi. I embrace the Revolution for this very reason. I am indeed the descendant of a witch and a demon, just like everyone in my clan. We are a cursed clan that deserves to die."

"Naoko, what are you saying?"

"I know how my words sound to you," Kai laughed softly before dissolving into a fit of coughs, "I will not destroy my clan or order you to do so in my stead. I mean that I want to erase the memory of Kurokami Shuichi and Rima, as well as the memory of our dark lineage. I want us to become the Mizushima clan so those chaotic and dark tendencies disappear. I want my cursed bloodline to be happy. I want a better future for those who will come after me. I refuse to allow anyone else to suffer the way I have."

"Naoko."

"Takahashi, lend me your sword."

Takahashi nodded and produced a familiar looking sword. The last time Kai had seen it, Tyson had been giving it to Daichi's care because of Black Dranzer. The heirloom of the current Granger family looked brand new and beautiful, as if it had been made recently. What surprised Kai the most was that Dragoon was inside that sword.

Kai gripped it with his free hand, the other hand still intertwined with Takahashi's. He closed his eyes, "Honorable Dragoon, hear my plea. Seal the darkness of the Kurokami within myself so I can take all this darkness to my death. Let me take the cursed darkness of my family so they can become the Mizushima."

Dragoon's image glowed and Takahashi was startled as he and Kai began to glow. Kai felt himself being covered in darkness. Instead of the suffocating darkness he was used to, though, he felt himself at peace. It was as if this darkness was an extension of himself.

Kai coughed and Takahashi dropped the Dragoon sword to clean the side of his mouth where he had coughed out blood. Kai nodded, "It is done. Takahashi, please summon my parents. I have to give them my request."

"Naoko," Takahashi leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead, "we shall meet again in another life. In that life, we shall be equals and we will live happily together."

"I look forward to that, Takahashi." Kai smiled before Takahashi left the room. He closed his eyes, exhausted but also too highstrung. He knew this wasn't over yet. There was still Naoko's last painful moments of life remaining and Kai was not looking forward to that. Not when he knew what had happened to Naoko.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Granger Dojo, Bey City, Japan, Earth, Main Dimension_

"This is a lot to take in." Tsubasa finally said as they finished summarizing everything they knew about the holy beasts, the Holy Beasts Wars, Eden's Rapture, the Forsaken Fallen and about themselves. Tsubasa touched his head, "Well, how will we deal with Erebus and the others? We can't just sit around and do nothing, can we? Not after what he's done."

"You're right, of course." Third Elder frowned, "I have my own bone to pick with Fifteenth."

"So, what is the plan?" Tsubasa said with a small frown, crossing his arms.

"We'll bring him to our territory, of course, where we'll have the advantage." Rin answered. He turned to Tyson, "There's a reason why I pushed the World Tournament forward. If there's a way to lure Erebus and the rest of Eden's Rapture to us, it's by displaying our powers."

"Wait, are you saying that we should try to go all out like during the Justice 5 tournament? You know, the way we woke up the Forsaken Fallen and began this whole mess?" Brooklyn questioned.

"Exactly." Rin answered and smirked coldly, an expression that he usually reserved for business meetings, "They will come to us and we'll crush them. Whether we kill them or seal them away doesn't matter to me."

"R-Rin?" Aya stopped herself when she saw the anger and sorrow in Rin's eyes before she understood. She nodded, steeling herself, "You're right. They'll pay for what they did to Kai."

"Then we have to prepare our attack." Tyson's eyes burned with passion, "We'll win this Holy Beast War and avenge Kai. I decided to protect this world and I won't let Eden's Rapture destroy it. I swear I will defeat them."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Bey City, Japan, Earth, Main Dimension_

A young woman hummed as she brushed the hair of her child. The woman had long brown hair and brown eyes while her daughter - a girl of ten - had wavy black hair. She kissed the sleeping girl's forehead, "Riliane, it's about time you woke up."

Her daughter, Riliane, opened her eyes only for them to be a bright white that was almost blinding. The light eventually faded and was replaced with violet eyes. She giggled, "Mom, let me sleep some more!"

"You've slept enough, darling." The woman chuckled, "It's time to go shopping, okay?"

"Okay!" Riliane smiled, her eyes glowing softly as they headed out.

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 _Japan, Earth, Main Dimension_

A woman sighed as she walked along an unfamiliar path. Had she gotten lost? She certainly didn't know where she was going, that was for sure. She was about to collapse when she saw some houses up ahead. She gave out a yelp of happiness, "Finally, civilization!"

She rushed forward until she realized something was wrong. She could hear nothing as she approached the village. The buildings looked a little old, too. She frowned as she approached, seeing that a crowd had gathered up in the middle of the town. She was about to speak when she noted that they were all statues.

"What in the world?" She frowned, seeing that the statues looked like they were in pain, their faces twisted in horror. She shivered, "M-Medusa is real?!"

 _Orion. . ._

The woman, Orion, stiffened before she looked to the distance, where the voice seemed to be coming from. She took a deep breath before she headed in that direction. She walked far from the village, wondering where she was heading. That was answered when she arrived at a house.

It was a small but beautiful home in the old Japanese-style. Despite years on its own, it was perfectly preserved, as if time didn't move in this place. She frowned, "Hello?"

 _Come here._

Orion was not an idiot. She shook her head, "Oh, no way." She took out the cell phone that her son had given to her in case of such emergencies. She didn't want to call him because of the funeral but this looked serious and other-worldly. She dialed the familiar number and waited for the call to be picked up.

 _"Mom?"_

"Daichi sweetie," Orion spoke, looking at the house and sensing something was not right inside, "I think I found something relating to the holy beasts. I need you to come here."

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Anime: I hope you got more feels reading this. Irregular!Tsubasa is finally lucid, more on First Elder and about previous Irregulars, as well as the Chaos Tamers. We see more of Naoko's past through Kai's eyes and the plot advances to the upcoming World Tournament. If you liked this, drop me a review cause they feed my creative juices. You can also follow MIAB and EDIH in Wattpad. I can put music and pictures there! Until next time!**

 ****Wattpad readers: This chapter will be available later in Wattpad with edits and the video of the song of the chapter. This will be true to the rest of the chapters, unless I have problems.****

 **Notes:**

 ***Irregular is such a strange person/deity. You could say he's an Elder/beast much like Chaos. Technically, Irregular has no gender as you can see there have been female Irregulars before but the true Irregular, Tsubasa, is a male.**

 ***There are actually three requirements to being an Irregular: a birth that wasn't meant to happen or happened earlier than what the stars predicted, an early death when the stars predicted another future and having a connection with a beast.**

 ***If you were paying attention, Kai, Ray, Rin, Daichi and Tyson are direct descendants to former Irregulars. Everyone else has a semi-Irregular in their family tree (which is the case of Max, Saori, Kaori, Kenny, Hilary and the rest of the tamers).**

 ***Also, due to Erebus cutting Kai's life short, he changed the destiny written in the stars for Kai and Kai had a very close connection to Dranzer. As such, Kai is considered an Irregular but is not** _ **the**_ **Irregular. This also means Haru and Natasha Mizushima are Irregulars. Third notes Haru was supposed to die four years after his actual death and his death was caused thanks to the Forsaken Fallen, just like Natasha's and they were also connected to a beast as they were tamers. There's another hidden Irregular among the protagonists, too.**

 ***Who do you think is the heart of Erebus come to life? I'll give a hint: It's one of the people in the list First Elder gave out.**

 ***Fun fact: Erebus hates Fifteenth Elder. Fifteenth Elder knows and constantly does things to anger him. Why does Erebus hate him? Fifteenth Elder saved his life.**

 ***Takahashi x Naoko joins the tragic lovers of MIAB/EDIH. And they didn't even get to meet up after death like Haru and Natasha or Chaos and Night. Tragic.**

 ***Naoko, as mentioned by Erebus, was the perfect tamer of Chaos. Others after him would've resembled him and would've been able to use the power of Chaos with him still sealed had Naoko not taken everything inside him to the grave. Thank Dragoon for that. This also made the Chaos tamers after Naoko weaker, as seen by Tsubasa and Haru who were unable to use the power of darkness.**

 ***If it wasn't obvious, Naoko's last moments of life consisted of him getting raped by Erebus. Erebus is not a good person.**

 ***I keep forgetting Kai is technically dead in Earth. I miss Kai too. T.T**

 ***A wild Riliane appears! Aaaaah!**

 ***And Orion's first appearance in the AOTFF/MIAB/EDIH-verse. I'm glad that she's here. Especially because parents will be important in this story. And where do you think she's at?**

 ****No age has been official for the parents of our heroes (or the birthdays of the characters) but I'm going to assume on some. So, let's start!**

 **I'd say Bruce Granger is around 48 since Hiro (in this continuity) is about 23 now. Also, in this story continuity, Hiro was already born when Rin's parents (Haru and Natasha) were 17/18. Bruce Granger is probably about 11 years older than Haru Mizushima, making him 29 when Haru was 18 during the Forsaken Fallen expedition. Haru was 19 when Rin was born and 20 when Tyson was born, meaning Bruce was about 31 when Tyson was born. Hiro was 6 when Tyson was born so Hiro was 4 when the Forsaken Fallen were released. Makes sense since Haru died at 25, when Rin was 6, Tyson was 5 and Hiro 11.**

 **MIAB/EDIH Susumu is Haru's age so he was 19 when Rin and Kai were born and Kana - Kai's mother - was 18 like Natasha. Kai is 19 in EDIH so Susumu is currently 38 in EDIH.**

 **Judy and Taro Tate look pretty young so they might be in their mid-30's, younger than Susumu. I'd say they're probably 34 or 35, meaning they were 17-18 when Max was born since Max's EDIH age is 17 (going on 18) much like Tyson.**

 **Daichi's dad must have been in his late 20's or early 30's, maybe 30, when he died, judging by how he looks in** _ **A Fierce Battle**_ **. Daichi must have lost his dad when he was 12 so, going by that, Daichi's dad must have been 18 when Daichi was born and Daichi's mom must be around that age group too. EDIH Daichi is 15 so his mother's age is probably around 33.**

 **Grandpa Granger already had a head full of grey hair and, to Asians, grey hairs start growing when they're in their late 30s but hair must turn completely grey in their 50's. Since Bruce in this story is 48, Grandpa Granger has to be older than 50. Probably 72 years or so if he was 24 when Bruce was born. This means that Grandpa Granger was born in 1944, five years after Tsubasa died in 1939. Tsubasa would have been twenty-one when Grandpa Granger was born!**

 **Mr. Dickenson is probably older than Grandpa Granger (or he's less athletic so he looks older) so he must be at least in his mid-70s or early 80s in EDIH. I'll say he's at least 78. So, he was born in 1938. Mr. Dickenson was alive in the same era as Tsubasa!**

 **So, in EDIH, the oldest people with the group are:**

 **Third (older than the universe; She says she's 21), Tsubasa (93), Mr. Dickenson (78), Grandpa Granger (72), Bruce Granger (48), Susumu Hiwatari (38), Taro Tate (35), Judy (34) and Orion Sumeragi (33)**

 _ **~~~EDIH~~~**_

 **Next chapter: Corrupted Flower**

 **Song: Corrupted Flower by Kagamine Rin and Len**


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